Uneven Paths of Development : Innovation and Learning in Asia and Africa

This book focuses on what can be learned from the complex processes of industrial, technological and organizational change in the sectoral system of information hardware (IH). The IH innovation system is deliberately chosen to illustrate how sectors act as seeds of economic progress. Detailed firm-level studies were carried out in seven countries, three in Africa (Nigeria, Mauritius and South Africa) and four in Asia (China, Taiwan, Malaysia and Indonesia). Bringing together two important areas of research (the scholarship on technology, innovation and learning, and the development literature) this book creates a useful and novel framework for understanding development, and draws very strong policy lessons for latecomer countries. It will be of great interest to graduate students working on evolutionary economics, science and technology policy studies, as well as policymakers and research institutes.