Trade, technology and national competition

ISSN： 0267-5730

Source： International Journal of Technology Management, Vol.7, Iss.1-2, 1992-05, pp. : 161-189

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Abstract

Trade between advanced countries during the present decade could be defined by intense mercantilistic competition in technology. The components of technological development policy, when taken together as a matter of how to generate and retain advantage in the technologies on which future development will rest, are the basis for conflict amongst the three regions of the western economy. Domestic discussions about how to promote innovation thus become an international debate about which nations will dominate critical technologies in the future, about fair trade, and about competing national development trajectories. This paper develops a pessimistic view. The foundations of this rivalry are already in place. The distinct national lines of technology development and approaches to innovation policy must be reconciled if an open international economy is to be fostered.