Las ventajas de llegar tarde : tecnología avanzada en países en desarrollo

Abstract

In the present work is upheld the hypothesis that "being late" to technological development would be an advantage for underdeveloped countries, since they would have the opportunity to transform their backwardness into a positive factor by being able to avoid the mistakes made by their predecessors, facilitating thus its modernization. To achieve this, advanced technology in these nations should be at the same time "appropriate technology", that is, technically and economically effective and socially acceptable in a given socioeconomic and ecological context. Two fundamental aspects are technology transfer, focused on its relationship with society, and the diffusion process, in which a macroeconomic approach that incorporates the possibility of technological "leap" is important. In conclusion, it is emphasized that the transfer does not necessarily imply dependence, since the advanced technology created in the developed ones can be used without necessarily following their same paradigms.