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Features 39 Charles Feinstein and Christopher Howe, editors. Chinese Technology Transfer in the 1990s: CurrentExperience, Historical Problems, and International Perspectives. Cheltenham (United Kingdom) and Lyme (New Hampshire): Edward Elgar, 1997. xi, 243 pp. isbn 1-85898-245-6. Since the founding ofthe People's Republic, its leaders have sought to enhance China's national technological capacity both by acquiring technology from abroad and by promoting the development ofan extensive system for research and development. While these efforts are certainly not without achievements, there is a general consensus among Chinese and foreign observers that the national capacity produced does not match the resources that have been committed to the effort over four decades. However, over the past fifteen years, China has redoubled its efforts at acquiring technological capacity with an aggressive search for foreign technology and with a series ofreforms in the domestic research-anddevelopment system aimed at overcoming the institutional obstacles that led to sub-optimal performance in the past. In light ofthese changes and the importance of science and technology for China's economic, military, and environmental future, the question of Chinese national technological capacity at century's end has become more salient. New studies of Chinese technological development are therefore especially welcome. Chinese Technology Transfer in the 1990s: Current Experience, Historical Problems, and International Comparisons is a collection ofpapers presented by Chinese and foreign scholars from Great Britain at a seminar held in Beijing in 1995. Most of the authors on the British side are economists who have established reputations in the study oftechnological innovation and technology transfer in settings other than China. The Chinese authors are drawn from a new generation ofscholars who approach technology policy questions from social science perspectives. Not surprisingly, therefore, Chinese Technology Transfer in the 1990s is an odd publication even by the generally curious standards ofthe "conference volume." Not only are the papers ofuneven quality, but they also lack a common focus—as ifthe authors all viewed the object of the enterprise through very different prisms. The findings presented in most ofthe papers will not be new to specialists in the field (indeed, the authors, unfortunately, overlooked much of the extant literature); at the same time, some prior experience with the issues discussed is necessary ifvalue from this volume—which does exist—is to be© 1999 by University captured FinaUy> me title is misieading; the book dealswith technological develr awm j ressopment more generally—notjust the experience oftechnology transfer—and more than one third of it is not directly related to China at all! 40 China Review International: Vol. 6, No. ?, Spring 1999 In spite ofthese problems of "volume integrity," there are some valuable contributions to be found within the book's covers. Among these is the first chapter, "Rethinking Technology Transfers: Incentives, Institutions and Knowledge -based Industrial Development," by Paul David. Although this chapter says nothing about China, it is a very fine overview of changing perspectives on the economics of technology, technology transfer, and technological innovation that have resulted from interdisciplinary research over the past forty years. David usefully calls attention to the many uses ofthe terms "technology" and "technology transfer," and alerts the reader to the importance ofinstitutional factors—for example, the nature ofregimes for the protection ofintellectual property—for understanding transfer and innovation phenomena. This chapter is the kind of conceptual tour de force that one likes to share with students and with uninitiated colleagues who want to know what this "technology transfer stuff is all about. David's chapter is followed by another solid piece, "Technology and Competitiveness in Asia: Case Studies in Japanese Technology Transfer with Implications for the People's Republic of China," by Christopher Howe. In spite of the title, though, the relevance for China and "competitiveness in Asia" is more asserted than demonstrated. Using case studies of two firms in the textile and optical instruments industries, respectively—Osaka Boseki and Nikon—Howe explores such important questions as government-industry relations, the role of trade associations, and the development ofintermediate technologies at various phases ofthe industrialization process. Here, too, we have materials useful for students—in this case, those interested in post-Meiji technological development in Japan. There is much here that might be...

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