FACILITATING TRANSFERS OF TECHNOLOGY TO DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

INDUSTRIALIZATION OF THE DEVELOPING COUNTRIES HAS BEEN ACCELERATED BY THESE CRITICAL IMPORTS, BUT THE COST IN SCARCE FOREIGN EXCHANGE HAS BEEN RISING AT A RAPID RATE. SOME LDC SPOKESMEN ARE ALSO TROUBLED BY THE COST IN POLITICO-ECONOMIC TERMS OF AN INCREASING NATIONAL DEPENDENCY ON FOREIGN TECHNOLOGY. CAPITAL-INTENSIVE TECHNOLOGY, DEVELOPED PRIMARILY TO MEET THE NEEDS OF INDUSTRIALLY ADVANCED COUNTRIES, IS OFTEN NOT APPROPRIATE FOR MOST LDCS WITH SURPLUS LABOR PROBLEMS. HOWEVER, IN THE ABSENCE OF AN INDIGENOUS SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL CAPABILITY, FOREIGN TECHNOLOGY IS ACTIVELY SOUGHT BY LDCS, PARTICULARLY THOSE WHICH ARE THE MOST INDUSTRIALLY ADVANCED. THIS STUDY FINDS THAT FOREIGN FINANCIAL AID COULD FACILITATE PRIORITY TECHNOLOGY TRANSFERS TO THE LDCS THROUGH A NUMBER OF PRACTICAL PROGRAM APPROACHES. IT WOULD STIMULATE THE DEVELOPMENT OF INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENTS IN LDCS THAT COULD ACCELERATE TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT BY ENCOURAGING INNOVATIVE ELEMENTS IN THE BUSINESS COMMUNITY AND BY SUPPORTING SELECTIVE IMPORTS OF TECHNOLOGY MOST APPROPRIATE TO THE SPECIAL NEEDS OF A COUNTRY. PREFERENTIAL LICENSING TERMS AND TAX POLICIES ON TECHNOLOGY EXPORTS ARE NOT CONSIDERED FEASIBLE. AS THE PREDOMINANT SUPPLIER OF TECHNOLOGY TO LDCS, THE INITIATIVE IS UP TO THE U.S. OTHER DONOR COUNTRIES AND INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS WOULD PROBABLY BE RESPONSIVE TO SUCH AN INITIATIVE. POSSIBLE APPROACHES AND THEIR IMPLICATIONS ARE DISCUSSED IN DETAIL.