Technological Infrastructure Policy provides a systematic treatment of technological infrastructure (TI) and Technological Infrastructure Policy (TIP) which are emerging fields of interest both for academic economists and for policy makers in both advanced and developing economies. The specific topics covered include: the role of TI in economic growth and development; the nature and definition of TI; TI-components; the relationships between TI and markets; salient features of TIP. Technological Infrastructure Policy reflects the distinction made between basic and advanced TI. Basic TI involves the collective absorption of foreign technology for subsequent diffusion to domestic firms. Several chapters explicitly deal with this process with an emphasis on the supply of advisory services to small and medium enterprises. Advanced TI involves precompetitive, cooperation research and development in cutting edge technologies undertaken by consortia of firms. Several examples of advanced TIP are given. The novel integration of various conceptual and practical aspects of TI and TIP is the strong point of this book.

Technological Infrastructure Policy provides a systematic treatment of technological infrastructure (TI) and Technological Infrastructure Policy (TIP) which are emerging fields of interest both for academic economists and for policy makers in both advanced and developing economies. The specific topics covered include: the role of TI in economic growth and development; the nature and definition of TI; TI-components; the relationships between TI and markets; salient features of TIP. Technological Infrastructure Policy reflects the distinction made between basic and advanced TI. Basic TI involves the collective absorption of foreign technology for subsequent diffusion to domestic firms. Several chapters explicitly deal with this process with an emphasis on the supply of advisory services to small and medium enterprises. Advanced TI involves precompetitive, cooperation research and development in cutting edge technologies undertaken by consortia of firms. Several examples of advanced TIP are given. The novel integration of various conceptual and practical aspects of TI and TIP is the strong point of this book.

This report on materials is not a sequel to the five or six high-quality reports published in certain Community countries over the last few years, nor does it attempt to summarize them. Nor is it a technical summary of the state of the art in new materials. It is rather to be seen as a survey of economic dynamics and strategy, carried out for the purpose of prompting political and industrial leaders throughout the European Community to reflect in some depth on the subject of materials. The report is arranged in five parts : the first is concerned with a definition of materials, the second with structural materials and their influence on the reconception of industrial processes, and this part is complemented by the third, which looks at the three main sectors using structural materials (transport, packaging, building and public works). The fourth part analyzes functional materials and the way in which they affect basic components in the technological system (information, energy, biotechnology). The fifth and last part makes a strategic analysis for Europe (in the spheres of industrial strategies, the role of the authorities and developments in employment and skills).