J. Delamothe et G. Paquet, THE TECHNOLOGY-TRADE NEXUS - LIBERALIZATION, WARRING BLOCS, OR NEGOTIATED ACCESS, Technology in society, 16(1), 1994, pp. 97-118
The information age has triggered the emergence of a new basis for com
petitive advantage for both firms and nations. It depends increasingly
on technical know-how, research and development, investment strategie
s of multinational firms, synergies, and untraded interdependencies wi
thin production systems. This has transformed the rules of the game an
d posed major challenges for policy makers. The paper develops a broad
interpretative framework to examine these evolving realities, examine
s in some detail the new challenges, and shows that some strategies in
good currency (open liberalization, warring blocs) are ill inspired.
Then it puts forward an alternative strategy of negotiated market acce
ss likely to be more fruitful for middle-power countries, and sketches
the basic orientations that such a strategy might take.