Competitiveness, Technology and Skills

Competitiveness becomes a growing concern for developing countries as they liberalise their economies and open up to global trade, investment and technology flows. They fear that liberalisation by itself may not, in the presence of market and institutional deficiencies, lead to the optimal allocation of resources. In particular, it may lead to the realisation of static rather than dynamic comparative advantages - a threat to sustained growth in a world of rapid technical change. This book draws together recent contributions by Sanjaya Lall - a leading authority on international investment, technology and industrial policy - on competitiveness and its major determinants. It draws upon his wide experience of competitiveness analysis in Asian and African countries and his recent work on technology and skills. It contains his most important published material as well as previously unpublished articles, and will be of interest to students, researchers and policy analysts interested in industrial development, technology and human resources.