Creation of Technology within Latin America

Abstract

The literature on technology transfer has traditionally assumed that the creation of new technical knowledge was restricted to the industrially advanced countries. Recent evidence seems to point in another direction since semiindustrialized countries are beginning to create new technologies, and even to sell technical knowledge, not only to other developing countries but also to industrialized countries. The available evidence based on enterprise and industry studies in Latin America indicates the existence of a fair amount of technological creativity, first in the form of adaptation of imported technologies to local conditions, followed by technological developments leading in a number of cases to the creation of new products and processes. Technological creativity arises in both competitive and noncompetitive industries, in large and small, public and private enterprises. While the existence of specific engineering and technical skills and of technically motivated entrepreneurs seems to have been crucial to the success of the technical changes taking place in Latin America, explanations of the factors accounting for these types of technological developments are not yet very robust, and a greater number of detailed case studies is required in order to acquire a fuller comprehension of the processes of technology transfer, adaptation, and creation in semiindustrialized countries.