Globalization, Information Technology and Development

173 Pages·1999·10.789 MB·English

by  Jeffrey James (auth.)

GLOBALIZATION, INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
AND DEVELOPMENT
Also by Jeffrey James
* CONSUMER CHOICE IN THE THIRD WORLD
* CONSUMPTION AND DEVELOPMENT
ECONOMICS OF NEW TECHNOLOGY IN DEVELOPING
COUNTRIES (with F. Stewart)
IMPROVING TRADITIONAL RURAL TECHNOLOGIES
* TECHNOLOGICAL SYSTEMS AND DEVELOPMENT
(with H. Khan)
* TECHNOLOGY, INSTITUTIONS AND GOVERNMENT POLICIES
(with S. Watanabe)
THE IMPACT OF WORLD EMPLOYMENT PROGRAM RESEARCH
ON TECHNOLOGY (v-.·ith F. Stewart, A. Shalla and others)
* THE STATE, TECHNOLOGY AND INDUSTRIALIZATION IN
AFRICA
THE TECHNOLOGICAL BEHAVIOUR OF PUBLIC ENTERPRISES
IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
THE TRANSITION TO EGALITARIAN DEVELOPMENT (with
K. Griffin)
* also from the same publishers
Globalization,
Information Technology
and Development
Jeffrey James
Professor of Developmem Economics
Tilburg University
The Netherlands
First published in Great Britain 1999 by
MACMILLAN PRESS LTD
Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS and London
Companies and representatives throughout the world
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN 978-1-349-40631-9 ISBN 978-0-230-37743-1 (eBook)
DOI 10.1057/9780230377431
First published in the United States of America 1999 by
ST. MARTIN'S PRESS, INC.,
Scholarly and Reference Division,
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010
ISBN 978-0-312-21870-6
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
James, Jeffrey.
Globalization. information technology and development I Jeffrey
James.
p. em.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-312-21870-6 (cloth)
I. Information technology-Economic aspects. 2. Information
technology-Social aspects. 3. International economic integration.
4. Regional economic disparities. I. Title.
HC79.155B6 1999
338'.064-DC21 98-43031
C!P
0 Jeffrey James 1999
All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made
without written permission.
No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced. copied or transmitted save with
written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright. Designs and
Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by
the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Totten ham Court Road, London W 1P 9HE.
Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to
criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
The author has asserted his right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance
with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and
sustained forest sources.
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 I
08 07 06 05 04 03 02 01 00 99
Contents
List of Tables VII
List of Figures IX
Acknowledgements XI
1 Information Technology and Globalization 1
PART I International Dimensions
2 Differential Access to Communications
Technologies 17
3 Industrial Information Technologies and
Comparative Advantage in International Trade 33
4 International Trade and Foreign Investment
in Information Technology 50
5 Information Technology and Foreign
Direct Investment 65
6 Conclusions 82
PART II National Dimensions
7 Globalization, Information Technology and
National Inequalities in Developing Countries 101
8 New Technologies, Employment and Labour
Markets in Developing Countries 116
9 Postscript: a Note on Globalization, Information
Technology and World Inequality 155
Index 161
v
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List of Tables
1.1 Annual average change in world merchandise
exports, 1983-93 (%) 7
1.2 Global integration and economic growth 11
1.3 Chapter outline of the volume 12
2.1 Leapfrogging in telecommunications 20
2.2 Telephone density in selected African countries,
1977 and 1987 21
2.3 A telecommunications profile of developing
countries 24
3.1 Exports of NC metal cutting machines
from two supplying countries to the Third World,
1989-90 35
3.2 Adoption of industrial information technologies
and international competition 37
4.1 Electronic exports by local and foreign firms
in Korea, 1968-80 53
4.2 Developing country exports of selected
electronics components, 1993 54
4.3 Developing country exports of selected
electronic equipment, 1993 55
4.4 Developing country exports of selected
consumer electronics, 1993 56
4.5 Acquisition of indigenous technological
capabilities 58
5.1 The mean weights of motives for establishment
of R&D 74
5.2 International distribution of strategic
technology alliances in information technology,
1980-9 77
5.3 Devdoping country participation in strategic
alliances in information technology, 1984-94 78
6.1 Trade and foreign-investment induced
mechanisms of technological influence on
globalization 84
Vll
viii List of Tables
7.1 Distributional effects of telecommunications
and communications technologies within
developing countries 104
9.1 A comparison of communication profiles
between developed and developing countries 157
9.2 Developed country exports of selected
electronics, 1993 158
List of Figures
1.1 The focus of this book 2
2.1 Telephone density and global integration 23
3.1 Non-adoption and product substitutability 39
3.2 Factor intensity, export quality and income 43
lX