The Political Economy Of International Technology Transfer

Compilation of papers by various experts on technology transfer occurring in North-South, West-West, and East-West viewed from various disciplines economics, political science, law and history.

Technology transfer—the process of sharing and disseminating knowledge, skills, scientific discoveries, production methods, and other innovations among universities, government agencies, private firms, and other institutions—is one of the major challenges of societies operating in the global economy. This volume offers state-of-the-art insights on the dynamics of technology transfer, emerging from the annual meeting of the Technology Transfer Society in 2011 in Augsburg, Germany. It showcases theoretical and empirical analyses from participants across the technology transfer spectrum, representing academic, educational, policymaking, and commercial perspectives. The volume features case studies of industries and institutions in Europe, the United States, and Australasia, explored through a variety of methodological approaches, and providing unique contributions to our understanding of how and why technology transfer is shaped and affected by different institutional settings, with implications for policy and business decision making.

For many years it was assumed that technology transfer would prove an unqualified answer for the problems of the developing nations, vastly simplifying and accelerating their rate of economic development. The papers in this volume question these assumptions demonstrating how technology transfer can be very costly and that success is contingent upon a variety of factors including, the direction of indigienous technology and the political setting of the recipient country.

Reappraises the role of international technology transfer in economic development in light of the globalization of the world economy. Provides an overview and historiography of technology transfer mechanisms, then discusses new technology transfer issues, particularly "sourcing," which have emerged as a result of increasing globalization, leading to an increased understanding of how developing economies and economies in transition could approach technology transfer policy in an increasingly globalized and open economic environment. Radosevich is a research fellow with SPRU, Science and Technology Policy Research at the University of Sussex, UK. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Monograph comprising a compilation of articles on the role of science and technology in the economic development of developing countries - includes articles on the social determinants of science policy, engineering consultants and technology transfer, the function of patents, agricultural development, choice of technology, sources of technical Innovation in China, etc., and emphasizes the role of research and development. Diagrams, references and statistical tables.

Transnational Corporations, Technology Transfer and Development: A Bibliographic Sourcebook compiles references one can use in studying transnational corporations and related topics. The compilation divides various source materials into eight major themes. The sourcebook presents publications on the development of science and technology; the International Technology Gap and the NIEO; and transnational corporations and technology. The other groups of publications compiled mainly focus on the anatomy of corporate technology transfer; technology transfer and host countries; and sectoral analysis, wherein several case studies are included. The last two sets of reference materials are concerned with technology transfer and the home country and its regulation. This sourcebook will be invaluable to those in need of lists of reference materials on transnational corporations.

This book examines the politics of technology, and provides a detailed analysis of developments and debates within the European Union, international trade and governance. An important empirical contribution to the literature on the relations between politics and technology, this volume contains empirical statistical studies based on a wide variety of different types of data, and includes expert contributions from different academic disciplines. With a selection of detailed case studies, this book is divided into three main sections: The first part presents contributions on the role of domestic national policies for innovation and idea diffusion, including studies on Japan and the European Union. The second part takes a critical look at how the international system of intellectual property rights access to knowledge, opportunities for development and health improvement, examining the TRIPS agreement and the European patent system. The third part focuses on the role of foreign direct investment in innovation and idea diffusion, with studies on a wide range of cases using different, novel data material. Governance and Knowledge will be of interest to students, scholars and policy-makers of European politics, political economy, international trade, governance and economics.

The importance of international technology diffusion (ITD) for economic development can hardly be overstated. Both the acquisition of technology and its diffusion foster productivity growth. Developing countries have long sought to use both national policies and international agreements to stimulate ITD. The 'correct' policy intervention, if any, depends critically upon the channels through which technology diffuses internationally and the quantitative effects of the various diffusion processes on efficiency and productivity growth. Neither is well understood. New technologies may be embodied in goods and transferred through imports of new varieties of differentiated products or capital goods and equipment, they may be obtained through exposure to foreign buyers or foreign investors or they may be acquired through arms-length trade in intellectual property, e.g., licensing contracts. 'Global Integration and Technology Transfer' uses cross-country and firm level panel data sets to analyze how specific activities exporting, importing, FDI, joint ventures impact on productivity performance.