STPS512 TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
| Course Code: | 8310512 |
| METU Credit (Theoretical-Laboratory hours/week): | 3 (3.00 - 0.00) |
| ECTS Credit: | 8.0 |
| Department: | Science and Technology Policy Studies |
| Language of Instruction: | English |
| Level of Study: | Graduate |
| Course Coordinator: | |
| Offered Semester: | Fall or Spring Semesters. |
Course Objectives
The course will start with the introduction and discussion of core concepts related to technology and technological change, especially with reference to the case of DCs. The first part will be devoted to the analysis of catch up theories in an historical perspective and discussion of lessons thereof for DCs. Although history rarely repeats itself and more importantly the current international context is radically different from the one observed one century earlier, common elements as to the role of technology in economic development can be identified. The second part of the course will be based on the presentations of students about a number of topics devoted to the role of technological change and innovation in the catch up experiences –some remarkable, others less successful– of DCs in the 20th century (such as import substitution-based development strategy, role of transnational corporations in the technology transfer, recent trends in intellectual property rights regime, emergence of global value chains, and globalization of R&D activities).
Course Content
Technology; technological change; innovation; technology transfer; technological activities in import substitution based industrialization versus outward oriented industrialization; appropriate technology;externalities; market failure in innovation; national system of innovation
Course Learning Outcomes
Students will be able to learn about the peculiarities of the process of technological change in developing countries
Students will be able to comprehend the concept and limitations of technological catch up by examining critically the implications of different approaches and theories
Students will be able to realize the promises and the limits offered by new technologies to developing countries on their way to economic development.
Students will be able to develop a critical thinking about the nature and the determinants of the rate and direction of technological change in developing countries in the era of globalisation