Technological Revolutions and the Periphery: Understanding Global Development Through Regional Lenses 3031434358, 9783031434358

Table of contents :
Acknowledgments
Contents
Chapter 1: Introduction: The Peculiarities of the Propagation of Technological Revolutions Through the Periphery
References
Part I: Theoretical Framework
Chapter 2: The Roots of System Expansion and the Role of Absorptive Capacity
2.1 The Roots of System Expansion
2.2 Three Dimensions for a Theoretical Framework
2.2.1 Kondratiev: Technological Change and Inclusion of New Regions
2.2.2 Furtado: Technology Progress at the Periphery
2.2.3 Cohen and Levinthal: Absorptive Capacity
2.3 A Tentative Theoretical Framework: A Combined Dynamics of Expansion and Assimilation
Appendix: Notes on Absorptive Capacity and National Innovation Systems
A.1. Cohen and Levinthal´s Original Elaboration
A.2 An Exploratory Adaptation for Flows Between Countries
References
Part II: Technological Revolutions and Their Impacts on the Periphery
Chapter 3: The Initial Impacts of the Industrial Revolution: An ``Astonishing Reversal´´ - 1771-1850
3.1 Introduction
3.2 An Impact Mediated by Cotton Production: Slavery
3.3 An ``Astonishing Reversal´´
3.3.1 Textile Production Before 1771
3.3.2 Indian Textiles, Markets in Europe and Technology Transfer from the East
3.3.3 Consequences of Mechanization of Textiles on Previous Producing Regions
3.4 The Puzzle of the Spread of Cotton Industrialization
3.4.1 Political Organization of Peripheric Regions
3.4.2 A Specialized Sector for Textile Machine Making
3.5 Cotton Industrialization Through Machinery Imports
3.5.1 India: Different Interactions with Handcraft Production
3.5.2 China: Coastal Initial Nuclei of Capitalist Development
3.5.3 Russia: Active Policies but Serfdom as a Limiting Factor
3.5.4 Sub-Saharan Africa: Very Late Arrival and the Survival of Artisanal Production
3.5.5 Latin America: Initial Industrialization Induced by Exports
3.6 Conclusion: A Technological Revolution That Reshaped the International Division of Labor
References
Chapter 4: Railways and the Consolidation of an International Division of Labor: Hinterlands Join the Global Economy - 1829-19...
4.1 Introducion
4.2 Railways and Their Invention and Initial Expansion in the United Kingdom
4.3 Expansionary Forces Emanating from the United Kingdom
4.4 Railways in the United States
4.4.1 Technology Transfer and Sources of Learning
4.4.2 Chandler and the Revolution in Transport and Communication in Nineteenth Century
4.4.3 Emerging Global Leadership, Linkages and Lack of Dissipation Effects
4.5 View from the Periphery: Different Levels of Political Organization and Their Impact on Railway Building
4.5.1 India: Railways as a Colonial Project
4.5.2 China: Very Late Beginning and a Post-1949 Priority
4.5.3 Russia: Railways and Spurts of Industrialization
4.5.4 Sub-Saharan Africa: Colonial Projects and Access to Natural Resources
4.5.5 Latin America: Railways, Exports and Beginnings of Industrialization
4.6 The Second Big Bang and the Consolidation of the Previous International Division of Labor
References
Chapter 5: Electrifying an Existing International Division of Labor: The Emergence of Multinational Firms in a Science-Based T...
5.1 Introducion
5.2 Electricity, Its Commercial Use and Peculiarities
5.3 Expansionary Forces Emanating from The United States: Multinational Firms and Global Electrification
5.4 View from The Periphery: Slow and Uneven Increase in Assimilatory Forces
5.4.1 India: Late and Anemic Start, Increase of Local Initiatives
5.4.2 China: Early Entry, Slow Diffusion with Interactions of Late Arrival of Machines and Railways
5.4.3 Russia: Electricity and Planning
5.4.4 Sub-Saharan Africa: Colonial Electrification and Interaction with Mining
5.4.5 Latin America: Electricity and Beginnings of Industrialization
5.5 The Expansion Between 1882 and 1937
References
Chapter 6: Automobiles, Oil, Petrochemicals, and Roads - The Inclusion of New Regions After a New Core Input - 1908-1971
6.1 Introduction
6.2 The Fourth Big Bang and the Nature of Its Three Interrelated Technologies (and One Unfolding Field)
6.2.1 The Automobile
6.2.2 The Automobile´s Fuel: Gasoline and Oil Refining
6.2.3 The Automobile´s Way: Roads and Their Networks
6.2.4 The Combination Between Those Three Components
6.3 Expansionary Forces: Multinational Firms in a Three-Pronged Process
6.3.1 The Search for Oil Reserves and Changes in the Production Chain
6.3.2 Selling and Making Cars (and Trucks) Abroad
6.3.3 Roads and Construction
6.3.4 Motives and Impacts of Those Expansionary Forces
6.4 Political Changes: Decolonization and Domestic Policies
6.5 View from the Periphery: Different Arrivals, More Heterogeneity
6.5.1 Saudi Arabia as a Case Study: Desert, Oil Drilling, and Petrochemicals
6.5.2 India: Entry Before Independence, Industrial Policies After
6.5.3 China: Changing the Source of Technological Transfer
6.5.4 Russia: Negotiated Technological Absorption from the West
6.5.5 Sub-Saharan Africa: Late Emergence of Oil-Producing Countries
6.5.6 Latin America: New Resource for a Raw Materials Exporting Region
6.6 The Spread of Three Interrelated Technologies and Their Uneven Impact
References
Chapter 7: The Microprocessor and the World Wide Web - Two Technological Revolutions and a Second Reversal? - 1971, 1991
7.1 Introducion
7.2 Before the Microprocessor and After the WWW
7.3 Expansionary Forces in Four Interrelated Technologies
7.4 A Note on Institutional Changes: A Qualitative Change in Absorptive Capacities at the Periphery
7.5 Assimilatory Forces: More Resources to Cope with Even Bigger Challenges
7.5.1 Taiwan as a Case Study: Semiconductors and Lessons for Development
7.5.2 Russia: Parity, Widening the Gap, and Destruction
7.5.3 India: Experimenting with Computers, Discovering Software
7.5.4 China: Entry, Reducing the Gap, and Limited Catch Up
7.5.5 Sub-Saharan Africa: Superposition of Backwardnesses
7.5.6 Latin America: Initial Entry, Later Exit, and Searching for Niches in the Global Economy
7.6 The Spread of These Four Related Technologies
References
Part III: Revisiting the Theoretical Framework
Chapter 8: The Interplay Between Expansionary and Assimilatory Forces
8.1 Introducion
8.2 Arrival of Technological Revolutions at the Periphery
8.3 The Sensitivity of Assimilatory Forces to Political Institutions
8.4 Expansionary Forces Change Over Time
8.5 Assimilatory Forces Change Over Time
8.6 The Multifaceted Interplay Between Expansionary and Assimilatory Forces
8.7 Islands of Technological Absorption
8.8 Superposition and Overlapping of Different Technological Revolutions
8.8.1 At the Center
8.8.2 At the Periphery
8.9 Heterogeneity at the Periphery
8.10 Further Evidence on Capitalism as a Complex System?
References
Chapter 9: Conclusion: An Agenda for Global Reform
References