Industrial Technology Capabilities and Policies in Selected Asian Developing Countries (With Particular Emphasis on Transferred Technology)

Abstract

This paper attempts to answer the question why industrial technological capabilities - particularly the ability to select, assimilate, disseminate and improve transferred or imported technologies - are different among Asian developing countries (ADCs). The countries covered in this study are India, Indonesia, Republic of Korea and Thailand. These countries have had contrasting experiences in acquiring and adapting industrial technologies, reflecting their varied institutional settings, resource endowments and industrial policies. A comparison of industrial technology capabilities has been attempted despite formidable difficulties and problems in measurement. In this study, three important dimensions of technological capabilities, viz: (i) increase in productivity; (ii) competitiveness of adopted technologies; and (iii) local assimilation of imported technologies, are measured using proxy indicators such as per capita income and per worker value added, the revealed comparative advantage (RCA) index, and labor absorptive capacity, respectively. Due to a lack of reliable data, the proxy indicators are used in the study. However, since technologies are "means" to achieve higher per capita income, stronger international competitiveness and greater utilization of domestic resources, we can reasonably assume that these indicators "embody" technological capabilities. As a matter of fact, these indicators confirm general technology capability assessments made earlier by the author through interviews with technology planners and experts in the selected countries.