Technology Export from the Socialist Countries
About the Book and Authors
Only since the 1970s have the East European Socialist countries (known collectively as Comecon) participated in the international exchange of technology as exporters. In this book, Drs. Monkiewicz and Maciejewicz analyze the technology export performance of the Comecon countries. They begin by defining the nature of technology as a commodity, analyzing the structural characteristics of the international market, and outlining both the cost and benefits of technology export. Later chapters provide an overview of Comecon technological policies in the 1970s, with particular attention to the export-import factor and Comecon regional technological cooperation. In-depth analysis is presented through case studies of the experiences of Poland and Czechoslovakia. The book concludes with a discussion of the implications of technology export by socialist countries, particularly its potential impact on existing global patterns of technological dependence and domination.
Jan Monkiewicz is associate professor of economics at Warsaw Technical University and has been a consultant on technology issues for several Polish institutions. Jan Maciejewicz is a lecturer in international economics at the Institute of Planning and Statistics in Warsaw.
Technology Export from the Socialist Countries
Jan Monkiewicz and Jan Maciejewicz
First published 1986 by Westview Press
Published 2019 by Routledge
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Copyright 1986 by Taylor & Francis
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Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Monkiewicz, Jan
Technology export from the socialist countries.
(A Westview special study)
1. Technology transfer. 2. Soviet ekonomicheskoi
vzaimoposhchi. I. Maciejewicz, Jan. II. Title.
T174.3.M646 1986 338.9 84-19669
ISBN 13: 978-0-367-28970-6 (hbk)
International technology transfer has for years attracted the attention of both researchers and policy makers. It is especially true when North-South and West-East technology flows are considered. For the past several years, however, a new phenomenon emerged, which is hardly reflected in the economic literature, i.e. technology export from the socialist countries. This book is the first attempt of a comprehensive investigation into this issue.
Technology export from the CMEA countries is by no means still a massive phenomenon. However, it could be taken as an indication of the growing technical maturity of the region and could imply some possible restructuring of the world technology market in years to come.
The book is introduced by a chapter defining the nature of technology as a commodity, analyzing the structural characteristics of the international market, and outlining both the costs and benefits of technology exports. Later chapters provide an overview of CMEA technological policies in the 1970s, with particular attention to the export-import factor and with CMEA regional technological cooperation. In-depth analysis is presented through case studies of the experiences of Poland and Czechoslovakia. The book concludes with a discussion of the implications of the rise of technology export by socialist countries, particularly its potential impact on technological development in the region and on existing global patterns of technological dependence and demonitization.
We wish to acknowledge our indebtedness to many academic colleagues for their willingness to discuss this research, but clearly any errors we may have committed are our own. Particularly we wish to thank Karl P. Sauvant, Philip Hanson, John W. Kiser and Jerzy Ruszkiewicz for their contribution of ideas and helpful comments. Finally, we would like to thank Alex Kam, Mary Anne Fenstermaker and Cheryl Rogers for their patient editorial help in completing our work.
Technology as Commodity
For thousands of years technology has migrated from one locale to another. It has been stolen by foreigners or carried out by migrants. With the rise of capitalism and the international patent system, technology became an object of commercial transactions - a commodity. It is, however, a commodity with peculiar properties.
Technology is a major resource of any economic system. It has been recognized and proven that technological gaps form the real structure of power of the market concerned. The deteriorating technological position of a given nation will inevitably be reflected in falling economic performance vis-a-vis its partners and eventual subordination to the dominating technological centres. This situation is well illustrated by the rise of the U.S. technological empire and simultaneous fall of the British position at the end of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth centuries.
Similarly, the U.S. worldwide lead in the commercial application of technology is being threatened by Japan and the military applications are being matched by Soviet achievements. The strategic character of technology as an economic resource implies that international transfer takes place only after it is thoroughly examined in the source country (source company) and considered as an element of its overall foreign economic strategy. Its strategic character also requires special considerations on the part of the host country, particularly because technological links, once created, have long-lasting effect, hence it is important which the source country and type of relationships prevailing between the host and source country.
The strategic content of technology is differentiated depending on the type of technology traded. In this respect we will have, on the one hand, all proprietary, i.e, protected by law technologies. The strategic content of technology is greater for large technological systems, but may be negligible for small-scale inventions. Needless to say, the strategic component is a positive function of technology progressiveness. It disappears with its standardization and proliferation. In all cases, however, this element is present, albeit, in different degrees. The best argument in favour of this hypothesis is a relatively low level of pure technological transactions taking place internationally. It is, as a rule, an element of a larger package or an instrument for benefits internalization. Evidence abounds indicating that technology owners are not eager to get rid of the control over their technology and instead prefer to exploit it themselves, if feasible and possible.
Technology while representing a strategic asset of a company or a nation is at the same time a considerably politicised commodity. This is well-supported by the fact that international technology flows are structured by existing international political blocks with a rather limited degree of inter-block relationship. Each block has its dominating leader or each leader-oriented nation creates its own technological dependents. In this respect technology is a commodity very much like arms and its supply across nations is determined by similar political and strategic motivations. This similarity is reinforced by the fact that in some countries (U.S. being a leading representative) international technology transfer is regulated, inter alia , by legal acts relating to the control of trade in arms.
