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Technology Transfer: West-South Perspective

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 June 2011

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Technology transfer is becoming an increasingly controversial issue in world politics. After many years of enthusiasm among both importers and exporters of technology, views have started to diversify, and the parties involved have found themselves in conflict. The most visible element of the current controversy is the disillusionment among the countries of the South regarding the ease with which they expected to become industrialized through the importation of Western technology. There are also some signs of disappointment in the West, especially in the United States, where the fear has arisen that the exported technology may be underpriced and that the competitive position of the United States may be eroding relative to that of the importing countries. In this article, I will deal with only one dimension of the current debate—namely, the experience of developing countries as importers of technology from the West.

Type
Review Article
Copyright
Copyright © Trustees of Princeton University 1984

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