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

The first volume in a major new series, this book will be an essential read for all those who need to deal with the causes and consequences of rapid technological change in an increasingly globalized world, whether they be government policy-makers, managers of multi-national corporations, commentators on the international scene or specialists in and students of international politics, economics and business studies. The authors discuss three related areas: * How do we think about technology and international relations/international political economy? How does technology relate to competitiveness? How does it inlfuence our culture and how is it influenced by it? * In what sense is technology a fundamental component of national competitive advantage and what ought national, local and corporate policy to be in the light of this? * What is the relationship between technological innovation and global political and economic change? Technology is discussed not just in an instrumental sense - as a tool of power and an object of policy - but equally in a transcendental sense - as a key to shaping and structuring how we understand and interpret reality. The final section of the book presents case studies of three core sectors of the world political economy, finance , aviation and automobiles. 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 Technology, Culture and Competitiveness will be essential reading for all those who need to deal with the causes and consequences of rapid technological change in an increasingly globalized world.The contributors discuss three related areas: how we think about technology and international relations and political economy; in what sense technology is a fundamental component of national competitive advantage and what it means for corporate and public policy; and what the relationship is between technological innovation and global and political economic change.-- Places technology at the center of the debate on international relations-- Critiques conventional approaches to the role of technology-- First volume in a new series The first volume in a major new series, this is an essential read for all those who deal with the causes and consequences of rapid technological change in an increasingly globalized world, whether they be policy-makers, managers, commentators, specialists or students