Technological Competitiveness in an International Arena

This article takes a sceptical view of the 'globalisation of technology' literature. We suggest three elements to such technological globalisation. First, there is the geographical extent in terms of the spatial spread and intensity (or 'depth'). Secondly, there are 'sectoral' variations in the degree of technological globalisation. Lastly, there is the issue of the 'temporal' extent of the globalisation of technology-when effectively did it first appear and what is the nature and extent of its subsequent development? With this framework, we find a far from uniform 'globalisation'. Government policy at the national level remains important, we argue, in part because much of what is depicted as globalisation is very clearly inter-national.