Combining enterprise surveys in Brazil, India, Korea, Mexico, Malaysia and Singapore with national and international data including those from China and major machinery exporting countries, this book establishes the international pattern of diffusion of microelectronic industrial technologies.

The Third World is facing new challenges arising from the emergence of new technologies - microelectronics and biotechnologies - and the process of globalization in capital, goods and services markets. This book examines the pros and cons of using new technologies at different levels of technological capabilities in the Third World. The implications of this challenge for most developing countries, which are users but not producers of these technologies, are considered in terms of their actual and potential impact on employment, income distribution and competitiveness. This last factor is...