Benefit of Technology Transfer to Developing Countries

Benefit of Technology Transfer to Developing Countries WHY IS THE TECHNOLOGY CONTRIBUTION OF MULTINATIONALS POTENTIALLY SO IMPORTANT FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES? WHAT FACTORS WILL DETERMINE WHETHER OR NOT THE TRANSFERED TECHNOLOGY ACTUALLY PROVIDES NET BENEFITS FOR THE HOST DEVELOPING COUNTRY? Todays world is divided no longer by ideology but by technology 15% of the earths population, provides nearly all of the worlds technology innovationshalf of the worlds population, is able to adopt these technologies in production and consumption. The remaining part, covering around a third of the worlds population, is technologically disconnected, neither innovating at home nor adopting foreign technologies. Sachs (2000) According to the new Growth theory of the 1990s, Innovation is the prime source of technological advancementwhich in turn drives economic growth. One of the prime motives of host developing countries for widely accepting and encouraging various channels of FDI is to absorb the technological spillover from the foreign country firms. The Hard Technologies (industrial processes, equipment and plant) or Soft Technologies (technical know-how, management ideas, marketing skills etc) (Dunning and Lundan 2008) contributed by Multi-national Enterprises (MNEs) are considered the main source of economic development and growth. When a multinational firm vertically integrates with the developing country firms, host firms they are forced to abide by the MNEs strict guidance and standards to ensure quality goods or services in the form of raw materials or upstream services. The foreign firms would guide and assist, both managerially and technically which would lead to improvement both in quality and quantity of service by the local affiliates. Also domestic rival firms enhance their offerings to keep in pace with the foreign affiliated firms in the market thus enhancing the host country firms productivity. The biggest US based retailer, Wal-Marts entry and rapid expansion in China has helped the logistics industry in Chinese market to climb higher level Zhu (2010). For developing countries to carve their niche in the global economy, they need to be technologically advanced. There is a possibility of importing new technology from foreign developed market, but this will cause a setback as the procedure would be expensive. Also countries will find themselves alienated from the advancement of technologies if they cant develop export markets Sachs (2008). This can be minimised to a considerable extent by MNEs trickle down effect wherein transfer of technological skills from developed countries to developing countries occurs through FDI. The transfer of Panasonics microwave manufacturing base from United States to China has led to the presence of 2800 Chinese enterprises to provide components for it, which has not only contributed new technology, but also advanced operations management techniques to Chinese market (Sinani and Meyer 2004). The risk factor due to uncertainty of new technologys results and heavy investment thwarts the developing countries from introducing any new technology from scratch. The argument in support of MNEs is that technology  is the quintessential component of economic development and demands a lot of investment in research and development (RD). Developing countries, however, lack both in skills and funds essential for RD, which has led to the deficient level of RD in  developing  economies. The host countries innovation can be stimulated because of the presence of MNEs, which would command resources necessary for RD. Hence host firms can save on cost by using the technologies which are already implemented and used by MNEs using Demonstration (by MNEs) and Imitation (by host firms) (Das 1987; Wang Blomstrom 1992, cited in Crespo and Fontoura 2007). However the patent regulation and challenge of absorbing the technological skills in the short term collaborative contracts makes the process very challenging for the firms in the emerging markets. The human resources mobility from MNEs to local firms also act as a channel of technology transfer and extension since the systematic training provided to these high-skilled employees is dissipated to domestic firms in the form of innovative managerial ability thus enhancing the domestic enterprises which would otherwise be impossible (Crespo and Fontoura 2007). Table 1: Summary of Spillover Channels of FDI (Blomstorm and Kokko (1998); Gorg and Greenaway (2001); Gorg and Strobl (2002)) The technology transfer usually occurs in a market which is imperfectly competitive and possesses no particular market structure. Since different developing countries would have different market structure, it becomes very complicated to have a generalized theory and model to find the determinant factors of technological spillover benefits to local firms (Mondal and Pant 2010). The results of empirical study by various researchers act as an alternative to analyse the net benefits of technology spillover for the host developing countries. The firms Total Factor Productivity (Factors like the level of RD, foreign presence, the firm size) can be used as a proxy to gauge technology transfer (Haddad and Harrison 1992, cited in Crespo and Fontoura 2007).According to Seck (2011) A 10% increase in a developing countrys foreign RD capital stock leads to more than a 2% percent increase in its total factor productivity. The economic development level (measured by per capita GDP) impacts strongly on RD activity (Cheung and Lin 2003). The growth in host countrys RD activities reduces the technological gap and increases the absorptive capacity of the host firm thereby benefitting the host developing country. According to Schmid (2010), A one percent increase in the Research and development (RD) expenditure is associated with a five percent increase in the likelihood of a technology transfer. He also states that the technology transfer is positively correlated to the trade flows and RD expenditure of a developing country. RD resulting in new processes and products either amplifies firms revenues or saves firms costs and is considered as the vital proxy for endogenous growth and technological advancement, Zhu (2010). In 2004, 23.7 % of industrial RD within China was performed by affiliates as compared to 21.7% in 2004 (UNCTAD 2005, cited in Dunning and Lundan 2008, p.359) which exemplifies increasing trend and possibly positive effect on host developing countries. Here the main challenge lies in finding the exact proportion of beneficial RD activities. If the relative costs of technology adoption are large to the economic value of the underlying technology (to the host country firms), there will be little adoption relatively and FDI spillover realized will also be relatively limited (Blomstrà ¶m. et.al 1999). Thus cost of technology adoption plays a major role for the technology transfer to be beneficial to the host country firms. The factors contributing to the distribution of technological capacity (which includes Higher educational institutions, Scientists and Engineers, RD laboratories and other physical and human assets) which are aided by foreign affiliates reflects the net beneficial effect on host countries due to export or FDI (Dunning and Lundan 2008). Alongside the direct effects of technological capacity of host countries, the indirect consequences can be measured through knowledge, technology and RD spillovers to host economys local firms which can be measured in terms of the raise in productivity of local firms as a result of the MNEs presence or entry into host economy. However realising the exact proportion of productivity increase solely due to MNEs contribution is a big challenge for many other factors would have aided the process. A study by Xu (2000), cited in Dunning and Lundan (2008), suggests that the spending on royalties and licence fees approximately indicates the impact of productivity enhancement caused due to technology transfer of FDI in the host countries. The absorptive capacity of the developing countries varies and accordingly the positive or negative effects based on it. The study by Feinberg and Majumdar (2001), cited in Dunning and Lundan (2008) reveals that the pharmaceutical affiliates in India experienced no spillover to local firms through locally conducted RD whereas the foreign affiliates had benefited. On the contrary, a study conducted by (Mondal and Pant 2010) shows the presence of foreign affiliates and high absorptive capacity for developing countries to impact positively on technology spillover which is elevated by a highly competitive environment. The policies of host governments towards FDI such as technology policy and Intellectual Property Protection are also plausible determinants which impacts the magnitude of the efficiency spillovers captured by host country firms. For example government policies which would encourage the RD performance like effective IP protection would alleviate the chances of FDI and intensify the technological capability of local firms which in turn would aid to exploit appropriate foreign technology (Blomstrà ¶m et al. 1999). On the other hand patents filed by developed countries would result in limited transfer of technological capabilities due to the protection of technology from imitation for 20 years. China became the largest recipient of FDI among the developing countries during 1990s due to the market for technology policy and enforcement of patent law in line with TRIPs (Trade-Related Intellectual Properties) (Cheung and Lin, 2003). Due to contradicting research data and the dependence of technology transfer benefits on the kind of industry and the level of alliance between foreign and emerging market country firms, it becomes very complicated to generalise the factors contributing to the net benefits of the developing countries. CONCLUSION According to (Dunning and Lundan 2008) The ability to create, acquire, learn, use and effectively deploy technological capacity is one of the key ingredients of economic success in virtually all societies. The exact realisation of net benefit of technology transfer to developing countries is measured using TFP as a proxy and can be enhanced by strengthening their local economy and capabilities to attract FDI inflow with the aid of strict and stringent government regulations.

Vehicle Drive Train Systems Essay -- physics car automobile vehicle

Before the advent of the automobile, buggies were typically propelled by one or more horses. Even with the first automobiles there was a need for a drive system, though, since those horses were no longer there. One thing that has remained common to every car is a motor and transmission system of some sort, but what varies greatly between cars is what is between the transmission and the wheels, also known as the drive train. There are many different styles of drive trains, each with their own advantages and disadvantages. Front Wheel Drive The most common style of drive train is that of the front wheel drive, abbreviated FWD. Front wheel drive was not, however, the first drive system. Front wheel drive first made its appearance in the automobile market in 1933 with the French Traction Avant, which literally means "pull from the front." At the time, the idea of having a car pulled by the front wheels was rather different, but this style of getting the power to the wheels worked rather well. What made the Traction Avant successful was that it was lighter and more fuel efficient than other car models made at the time. This increased efficiency was a result of not only eliminated weight, but also reduced power loss in moving the rotational energy to the back. The idea of front wheel driven cars was not embraced immediately by major car manufacturers, though, since having all the driving mechanisms placed right under or in front of the engine added complexity in production and maintenance that was not worth the extra gas mileage. It was when the gasoline shortage hit America in the early 1980s that the front wheel drive car first became popular. Chevrolet first implemented the system in its "Citation," in 1979, which became an... ...front and rear differentials. Taking this into consideration, all wheel drive systems are almost always on full time. In order for all wheel drive to work, a specialized computer and a matching set of sensors is needed to tell which wheels are spinning and to which wheels the power should be transferred to. The change is done through a series of automatic wheel braking, adding another complicated and costly mechanism to the brakes system. For this reason all wheel drive systems were usually only used in vehicles like Mercedes and Porches. Lately, though, due to the advances in manufacturing technology, there have been a few domestic vehicles released, like the newer Ford Explorers and the Saab 9-2X, both of which feature all wheel drive. Should the cost of production of all wheel drive systems continue to decrease, more domestic vehicles will feature it in the future.

Psychology Case Write Up Essay

1. What traits are prominent in these cases? Name two or three from the Big Five and give examples from each person’s behavior, emotional reactions or thought processes as ‘evidence’. Shirley: Shirley seems to not be open to new experiences. At age 57 she has put herself back into psychotherapy. The childhood with a drunken and possible depressed mother seem to play part in the way she raised her children. Where now she only has active contact with one of her daughters and struggles to accept the fact that the other daughter is gay and the son is living in a halfway house. She married an abusive husband which correlates to the men her mother used to date who used to abuse Shirley. Death seems to be a continuous cycle of experiences for Shirley. Her mother died then her first husband, second husband and then her child. She seems to be continuously living the same life over and over and nothing new really happening. An event that does interfere with openness is the fact that she did become a lay minister; open to helping others. Conflicting because she is able to admit she potentially could be an alcoholic but refers to it as a â€Å"problem†. So I would assume she wants something new but the conflict starts when she exhibits the same behaviors over and over. Shirley seems to be an extrovert. Although she struggles with depression she still shows signs of wanting to be around people and have some interaction. She decided to go back to psychotherapy which involves group interaction or one-on-one meetings. There is still the effort of keeping in touch with one daughter. It seems Shirley didn’t like being alone hence the reason she re-married after her first husband died and joined the lay ministry when her second husband died. Perhaps the reason for connecting with people is a way for her to not worry about herself as much. For example she works for the state and is a lay minister but states â€Å"herself as â€Å"mentally ill†, but that she ‘may’ also have a drinking ‘problem'†. Greg: Greg seems to be conscientious in some areas and not so much in others. He graduated college with his masters but has a hard time completing his work on the job. Perhaps the reason he struggles with communicating to the children’s parents could be a reason why he isn’t close to his colleagues; lack of assertiveness. He has never developed a relationship with his father and isn’t completely honest with his mother in regards to his sexuality. He seems to be a great achiever within himself but dealing or doing things for something else is where he struggles. For example â€Å"has trouble being assertive and setting limits both with clients and colleagues but he works out at the gym and is quite muscular†. Greg seems to be an extrovert. He enjoys singing in the

Analysis of Interracial Adoption essays

Analysis of Interracial Adoption essays The purpose of this paper is to introduce, discuss, and analyze the topic of adoption. Specifically, it will argue why interracial adoption should be allowed and why single parent adoptions should be allowed, as well. Interracial adoption (often referred to as "Transracial Adoption" or TRA), has become far more common in the United States, especially with all the attention stars such as Madonna and Angelina Jolie have received after adopting children from other countries and nationalities. Interracial adoption works because it helps place more children in loving homes and it helps create more understanding between the races, as well. In 1994, the Federal Government passed the Multi Ethnic Placement Act (MEPA), and in 1996, they passed the Adoption and Safe Families Act. These two acts ensured that race could not be used as a reason to deny placement of a child in an adoption or into a foster home (Simon, and Roorda 3). Thus, according to law, race cannot be used as a determining factor in an adoption, and it should not be a factor. One reason interracial adoptions became popular is the number of black children available for adoption. Traditionally, white families adopt white children, but there are fewer blacks who adopt, and this leaves more black children without adoptive families. One expert notes, "Blacks adopt at higher rates than their white counterparts, controlling for socioeconomic class, but there are not enough black adopters to adopt all of the black children in need of placement" (Fogg-Davis 4). Thus, interracial adoption guarantees more children a chance at adoption and a new life. Perhaps one of the biggest arguments against the practice of interracial adoption is the argument about how it affects the child. In fact, many social workers and adoption experts believe that interracial adoptions are not in the best interest of the child, who will lose the valuable and vital aspects of growing up with members...

Conversation Using Reported Speech Lesson Plans

Conversation Using Reported Speech Lesson Plans Reported speech is also known as indirect speech and is commonly used in spoken conversations to report what others have said. A keen grasp of correct tense usage, as well as the ability to correctly shift pronouns and time expressions, is essential when using  reported speech. The use of reported speech is especially important at higher English levels. Students  are fine-tuning their communication skills to include expressing the ideas of others, as well as their own opinions. Students usually need to focus not only on the grammar involved but also on production skills. Reported speech includes some rather tricky transformations that need to be practiced repeatedly before students feel comfortable using reported speech in everyday conversations. Finally, make sure to point out that reported speech is generally used with the verbs say and tell in the past.   Hell help him with the homework. - She told me he would help me with my homework.   However, if the reporting verb is conjugated in the present tense, no reported speech changes are necessary. Im going to Seattle next week. - Peter says hes going to Seattle next week.   Lesson Outline Aim: Developing reported speech grammar and productions skills Activity: Introduction and written reporting activity, followed by spoken practice in the form of a questionnaire Level: Upper-intermediate Outline: Introduce/review reported speech by making simple statements and asking students to report what you have said. Make sure to emphasize reporting in the past (i.e., the teacher said, NOT the teacher says)Provide review sheet of principle reported speech transitions (included in lesson printout pages)Have students get into pairs and convert the reported speech paragraph into the direct speech form.Correct worksheet as a class.Ask students to divide up into new pairs and ask each other questions from the questionnaire. Remind them to take notes on what their partners say.Have students divide into new pairs and ask them to report what they have learned about the other students to their new partner (i.e., John said he had lived in Breubach for two years).Follow-up with class conversation focusing on problematic tense transformations. Reported Speech Study the following chart carefully. Notice how reported speech is one step back into the past from direct speech. Tense Quote Reported Speech present simple I play tennis on Fridays. He said he played tennis on Fridays. present continuous Theyre watching TV. She said they were watching TV. present perfect Shes lived in Portland for ten years. He told me she had lived in Portland for ten years. present perfect continuous Ive been working for two hours. He told me he had been working for two hours. past simple I visited my parents in New York. She told me she had visited her parents in New York. past continuous They were preparing dinner at 8 oclock. He told me they had been preparing dinner at 8 oclock. past perfect I had finished in time. He told me he had finished in time. past perfect continuous She had been waiting for two hours. She said she had been waiting for two hours. future with will Ill see them tomorrow. He said he would see them the next day. future with going to Were going to fly to Chicago. He told me they were going to fly to Chicago. Reported Speech Reference Time Expression Changes Time expressions such as at the moment are also changed when using reported speech. Here are some of the most common changes: at the moment / right now / now -  at that moment / at that time Were watching TV right now. - She told me they were watching TV at that time. yesterday - the previous day / the day before I bought some groceries yesterday. - He told me he had bought some groceries the previous day. tomorrow - the following day / the next day Shell be at the party tomorrow. - She told me she would be at the party the next day. Exercise 1: Put the following paragraph in the reported speech into the  conversational form using direct speech  (quotes). Peter introduced me to Jack who said he was pleased to meet me. I replied that it was my pleasure  and that I hoped Jack was enjoying his stay in Seattle. He said he thought Seattle was a beautiful city, but that it rained too much. He said that he had been staying at the Bayview Hotel for three weeks and that it hadnt stopped raining since he had arrived. Of course, he said, this wouldnt have surprised him if it hadnt been July! Peter replied that he should have brought warmer clothes. He then continued by saying that he was going to fly to Hawaii the following week, and he that he couldnt wait to enjoy some sunny weather. Both Jack and I commented that Peter was a lucky person indeed. Exercise 2: Ask your partner the following questions making sure to take good notes. After you have finished the questions, find a new partner and report what you have learned about your first partner using reported speech. What is your favorite sport and how long have you been playing/doing it?What are your plans for your next vacation?How long have you known your best friend? Can you give me a description of him/her?What kind of music do you like? Have you always listened to that kind of music?What did you use to do when you were younger that you dont do anymore?Do you have any predictions about the future?Can you tell me what you do on a typical Saturday afternoon?What were you doing yesterday at this time?Which two promises will you make concerning learning English?

Response for Was Sumerian Civilization Exclusively Male Dominated Essay

Response for Was Sumerian Civilization Exclusively Male Dominated - Essay Example The Sumerian Pantheon and theology were primarily populated and controlled by male deities like An, Enlil and Enki (Starr, 1965). The important Sumerian epic Gilgamesh has a male as its central character (Starr, 1965). In the Sumerian social hierarchy, the leading priestly class was male dominated (Starr, 1965). In contrast, Kramer presents Sumerian history and cosmology as an arena impregnated by both the male and female influences, in which the feminine element does hold its sway. The inscriptions of King Urukagina do prove that in the early Sumerian society, women did wield power in the Sumerian political and religious life (Kramer, 1976). Many important high priestesses like Enheduanna were esteemed for the political and literary contributions made by them (Kramer, 1976). The Sumerian Pantheon comprised of influential and powerful goddesses like Ninhursag and Inanna (Kramer, 1976). The position evinced by Kramer is more agreeable as it takes into consideration the larger body of the available historical and literary evidence, to elaborate on the position of women in the Sumerian society. This position is supported by Henk Dijkstra. As per him, women did command much power in the Sumerian legal system (Dijkstra, 1996, p. 241). K Ann Pyburn also mentions the important role played by women in the Sumerian political hierarchy (Pyburn, 2004, p. 34). As per Pyburn, the feminine element is distinctly visible in the Sumerian political history and

Performance of the UK auto- and motor industry Literature review

Performance of the UK auto- and motor industry - Literature review Example Because of this superior level of internet sponsored network connectivity, the world has become a highly connected one single global entity. It is highly interesting to mention that the level of dependency that exists in between the organizations and business forums of various countries and markets is widely varying and largely diversifying in nature. As of the recent times, the advanced markets located in the well developed economies are facing factors of low demand because of the influence of a wide range of macroeconomic factors like the slow growth in the economy and fall in purchasing power of the consumers. It has become a common and normal trends for the companies and organizations located in the regions of slower growth to look forward to the markets of emerging economies like Africa, china, Russia, Brazil and India so as to secure their growth lines of the future (IMF Research Dept, 2012, p. 7) . The UK motor segment forms a very crucial and critical part of the entire motor industry of the European region. The factors like product manufacturing, combined participation and sharing of manufacturing policy by the auto manufacturers as well as the multiple markets served in a combined basis by the entire European automobile sector makes the contribution of the UK motor industry very important. It also has to be taken into account that the production of the automobile sectors in the UK region contributes in a positive manner in the economy and society of the nation (Johnson, 2002, p. 164). UK auto industry: sector overview It is highly relevant to mention that the most of the nations of the European region is facing extended periods of macro level economic challenges in regards to the troubles of the Euro zone. Since the UK motor industry shares a high degree of contribution based dependence with the entire European motor industry, it is very natural that the potential influence of the regions’ macroeconomic challenges is bound to cast a shadow on t he prospects of the UK automobile sector. As of October 2012, various reports on the automobile sector of the UK region hinted to the fact that around 1400 workers of the motor sector is about to lose their jobs as a result of cuts that are supposed to be initiated by the motor manufacturing giant Ford in its plant locations of Southampton and Dagenham. Further insights revealed that the job cuts in the motor sector is an outcome of Euro zone powered effect which comprised of uncertainty in the business environment as well as erosion in demand. It was also realized that Ford has focused on consolidating its manufacturing operations in the European region on the strategic grounds, while trying their best to absorb the case of depreciating demand of finished products from the European region. Talking on the lines of impacts and threats faced by the automobile sector of UK, it has to be said that the automobile sector faces serious issues on the lines of rising cost of manufacturing in the UK region as well as highly