Development, Technology, and Flexibility

by Ferraz, Joao Carlos; Rush, Howard; Miles, Ian

• ISBN13: 9780415070898
• ISBN10: 0415070899
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1992-08-01
• Publisher: Routledge

Table of Contents

Figures
Tables
Foreword
Acknowledgements
Abbreviations
Introduction and analytical framework	p. 1
The old versus the new industrial paradigm	p. 5
The diffusion and benefits of modernising innovations	p. 12
Modes of use	p. 20
The use of modernising innovations: analysing circumstances and prospects	p. 29
The forecasting approach	p. 30
Methodological approach	p. 34
Data and forecasting about Brazilian circumstances and technological change	p. 38
The Brazilian style of development	p. 51
The institutional context: an inward oriented approach to development	p. 51
The economic context: unstable growth in the 1980s	p. 55
The social context: a lost decade	p. 60
The technological context: low investment and concentrated efforts	p. 66
Modernisation levels: technological heterogeneity	p. 71
Changes in industrial structure, growth and competitiveness: expectations for the future	p. 78
Structural characteristics of leading firms	p. 78
Expectations for growth	p. 80
Changes in the determinants of competitiveness	p. 85
Determinants of innovation	p. 97
Determinants of investment	p. 98
Reasons for the adoption of modernising innovations	p. 100
Barriers to diffusion	p. 111
The diffusion of modernising innovations	p. 120
General diffusion trends	p. 121
Flexible automation	p. 122
Organisational techniques	p. 130
Technological strategies	p. 139
Interpreting the diffusion results	p. 144
The implications of modernising innovations	p. 148
General implications	p. 149
Areas of impact	p. 151
The organisation of production	p. 163
Interaction of modernising innovations	p. 170
Employment and skills	p. 173
The impact of modernising innovations on employment and skills	p. 175
The skills and knowledge base associated with flexible automation	p. 183
The skills and knowledge base associated with new organisational techniques	p. 191
New production practices and the base of knowledge for the workforce	p. 198
Degradation, continuation or transformation?	p. 202
Future perspectives for the leading firms	p. 203
Alternative modernisation scenarios	p. 214
Policy implications	p. 225
Appendix I	p. 235
Appendix II	p. 237
Appendix III	p. 238
Bibliography	p. 257
Index
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