Technology, Culture and Competitiveness: Change and the World Political Economy (Technology and the Global Political Economy)

Book Cover......Page 1
Half-Title......Page 2
Title......Page 4
Copyright......Page 5
Contents......Page 6
Illustrations......Page 8
Contributors......Page 9
Preface......Page 10
Acknowledgements......Page 11
1 Technology, culture and competitiveness......Page 12
ELEMENTS OF A TECHNOLOGICALLY INCLUSIVE IPE......Page 17
THE STRUCTURE OF THE BOOK......Page 19
Part I Thinking about technology and international relations......Page 22
2 Technological metaphors and theoriesof international relations......Page 24
THE MECHANICS OF REALISM......Page 26
‘LIBERAL’ SYSTEMS......Page 29
IN THE KINGDOM OF SIGNS......Page 31
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS IN THE SEMISPHERE......Page 34
NOTES......Page 36
CULTURE AS THE SERVANT OF TECHNOLOGY......Page 38
TECHNOLOGY AS CULTURE/THE TECHNOLOGICAL IMPERATIVE AS HISTORY......Page 41
TECHNOLOGY, GLOBAL CULTURE, GLOBAL POWER RELATIONS......Page 43
BEYOND AN UNDERSTANDING OF TECHNOLOGY AS IDEOLOGY OF PROGRESS......Page 45
THE TECHNOLOGICAL IMPERATIVE AND TIME/SPACE CONSIDERATIONS......Page 47
TECHNOLOGY, CULTURE AND POWER IN THE GLOBAL POLITICAL ECONOMY......Page 48
NOTES......Page 50
4 Technology as knowledge......Page 52
KNOWLEDGE AND TECHNOLOGY......Page 53
THE KNOWLEDGE STRUCTURE......Page 55
THE ECONOMICS OF TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION......Page 57
FIRMS AND KNOWLEDGE......Page 60
GENERIC TECHNOLOGY......Page 63
THE IPE OF GENERIC TECHNOLOGY DIFFUSION AND IMPACT......Page 66
NOTES......Page 67
5 The end of the dinosaurs?......Page 68
APPLICATIONS OF NEW TECHNOLOGIES IN MULTINATIONAL CORPORATIONS......Page 69
THE NEED TO ADAPT TO RAPID TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE......Page 70
THE PROLIFERATION OF SMALL COMPANIES OR RELATIVELY INDEPENDENT BUSINESS UNITS......Page 71
1 Macro-economic consequences at national level......Page 74
2 Macro-economic consequences at global level......Page 75
3 Political consequences at national level......Page 76
4 Political consequences at global level......Page 78
NOTES......Page 79
Part II Technology as the foundation of international competitive advantage......Page 82
6 Interpretations of the diffusion and absorption of technology......Page 84
CONCEPTIONS OF DIFFUSION AND TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE......Page 85
IS DIFFUSION A PROBLEM AT ALL?......Page 86
THE DIFFUSION OF INNOVATIONS......Page 87
VARIED PATTERNS OF DIFFUSION WITHIN COMPANY STRUCTURES......Page 88
THE DIFFUSION OF INNOVATIONS IN THE NEW MATERIALS SECTOR......Page 92
NETWORKING PATTERNS AND INNOVATION DIFFUSION......Page 93
THE IMPORTANCE OF INSTITUTIONAL LEARNING......Page 95
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RULES AND DIFFUSION PROCESSES......Page 96
CONCLUDING REMARKS......Page 97
INTRODUCTION......Page 100
INDUSTRIAL POLICY, TECHNOLOGY POLICY AND MARKET FAILURE......Page 101
Internationalisation or globalisation?......Page 104
Mergers, acquisitions and global oligopoly......Page 107
The non-globalisation of R&D......Page 108
The continuing importance of national systems of innovation......Page 109
Support for the science and technology infrastructure......Page 110
Support for strategic technologies......Page 111
The promotion of competition......Page 112
Making good institutional failure......Page 113
Coping with system friction......Page 114
NOTES......Page 115
8 Communities, networks, creativity and culture......Page 118
Political dimensions......Page 119
Economic, social and cultural dimensions......Page 122
Opportunities and constraints......Page 123
Policy insight 1: social structures and economic development......Page 125
Policy insight 2: production, culture and imaginative milieux......Page 128
Transcendentalism versus instrumentalism......Page 130
MANAGING THE LOCAL WITHIN THE GLOBAL IN INFORMATION SUPERHIGHWAYS: SOME CONCLUDING REMARKS......Page 132
NOTES......Page 134
9 A political economy approach to labour markets in knowledge-intensive industries......Page 136
CHANGING LABOUR MARKETS IN THE GLOBAL ECONOMY......Page 137
LABOUR MARKETS AND THE ‘KNOWLEDGE STRUCTURE’......Page 139
Historical background: American leadership......Page 141
The importance of skilled labour......Page 142
Recruitment difficulties or institutional failures?......Page 143
THE IPE OF KNOWLEDGE-INTENSIVE LABOUR MARKETS......Page 144
CONCLUSIONS......Page 147
NOTES......Page 148
10 When technology doesn’t mean change......Page 150
CRISIS AND COMPETITION IN THE TEXTILE AND CLOTHING SECTOR......Page 153
WHY NOT ADAPT?......Page 156
CONCLUSIONS......Page 160
NOTE......Page 161
Part III Technology and change in the world political economy......Page 162
11 The search for a paperless world......Page 164
THE THIRD INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION AND CHANGING FINANCIAL MARKET STRUCTURES......Page 165
TECHNOLOGY AND CHANGING FINANCIAL MARKET STRUCTURES......Page 169
POLITICAL PROCESSES AND POLICY RESPONSES: THE EROSION OF STATE CAPACITY......Page 173
NOTES......Page 176
EFTPOS POSSIBILITIES......Page 178
UK EFTPOS......Page 179
EUROPEAN EFTPOS......Page 181
THE COMMISSION AND THE BANKS......Page 184
CONCLUSIONS—TECHNOLOGY AND THE PROCESS OF GLOBALISATION......Page 186
GLOSSARY......Page 189
NOTES......Page 190
13 Aviation’s technology imperative and the transformation of the global political economy......Page 192
STATES, FIRMS AND TECHNOLOGY......Page 194
AVIATION’S TECHNOLOGICAL IMPERATIVES—A CATALYST OF CHANGE......Page 196
CONCLUSIONS......Page 202
NOTES......Page 206
INTRODUCTION......Page 208
PUBLIC AND PRIVATE ACTORS IN ATC OPERATIONS......Page 209
THE ATC PROBLEM......Page 211
THE GLOBAL NAVIGATION SATELLITE SYSTEM—TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE AND POLITICAL INTERESTS IN THE WORLD CIVIL AVIATION SYSTEM......Page 213
FINAL OBSERVATIONS......Page 219
NOTE......Page 220
15 Fuel cells, cars and world power......Page 222
HOW FUEL CELLS WORK......Page 223
Air pollution and global warming......Page 225
COMMERCIAL VIABILITY AND CURRENT DEVELOPMENT......Page 227
DRIVERS BEHIND THE FUEL CELL VEHICLE......Page 228
The automotive industry......Page 230
The United States as global superpower......Page 232
NOTES......Page 233
Bibliography......Page 236
Index......Page 262