Overview

This volume deals with the role and impact of technology on the economy and society. The papers on corporate dimensions address the impact of patents, determinants of innovative activities, differential behaviour of multinationals, industrial groups and other firms with regard to innovations and technology. In contrast, the papers on social dimensions chiefly deal with the role of technology in reducing inequality. The majority of the papers employ econometric techniques and other statistical methods, and many are based on primary data. The studies emphasise the importance of innovations (especially patents) and human capital in influencing productivity across Indian states, the significance of patenting in determining the efficiency of firms, the role of business groups in promoting innovations, differences in the technological characteristics of multinational and domestic firms, and how mergers and acquisitions can promote R&D. The papers on social dimensions analyse how innovative activities can shape employment, the impact of technology on poverty, the socioeconomic characteristics of mobile phone ownerships, use of information and communications technologies at educational institutions, and the influence of Synchronous Technologies in reducing access to teaching programmes. The studies show that those Indian states that have invested in human capital and technology experienced higher labour productivity. Further, the studies establish a positive correlation between R&D spending and employment. Lastly, they demonstrate that the adoption of agriculture-related technologies can have a significant impact on rural poverty and consumption expenditures.

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N. S. Siddharthan is an Hon. Professor at the Madras School of Economics, Chennai, India and Hon. Director of the Forum for Global Knowledge Sharing. His current research interests are: Technology and Globalisation, International Economics, Multinational Corporations, and Industrial Organisation. He has published several papers in journals such as The Economic Journal, Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, The Journal of Development Studies, Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Applied Economics, Development and Change, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, Journal of Business Venturing, Japan and the World Economy, Journal of International and Area Studies, International Business Review, Developing Economies, Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv, Tnansnational Corporations, The Indian Economic Review, The Indian Economic Journal, and  Sankhya. He has also served as a guest editor for special issues of the journals Science, Technology and Society (Sage) and Innovation and Development (Routledge). He has also published books with publishers such as Springer, Routledge, Oxford University Press, Macmillan, Allied, Academic Foundation, and New Age International Publishers. Dr. K. Narayanan received his PhD in Economics from the Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi, India, and pursued post-doctoral research at the Institute of Advanced Studies United Nations University, Tokyo, Japan during 2000–01. During his research studies in India, he was a recipient of the ICSSR fellowship at the Institute of Economic Growth, New Delhi, India. His research interests span the areas of industrial economics, international business, socio-economic empowerment through ICT, environmental economics, economic impacts of climate change, and development economics.  He has a number of publications in the field of industrial competitiveness, technology transfer, information and communication technology, international trade and the socio-economic impacts of climate change. The research journals in which he has published include Research Policy, Journal of Regional Studies, Technovation, Oxford Development Studies, International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, and Economic and Political Weekly. Two of his recent publications include edited books on (i) Indian and Chinese Enterprises: Global Trade, Technology, and Investment Regimes, and (ii) Human Capital and Development: The Indian Experience [both of which were jointly edited with N.S. Siddharthan published by Routledge and Springer, respectively. He also guest edited a special issue of the Indian Association of Social Science Institution’s quarterly on the theme “Human Capital and Development”, as well as a special issue of the Sage published international journal, Science, Technology and Society on the theme “Agglomeration, technology clusters and networks”. He is actively engaged in a web-based research group, Forum for Global Knowledge Sharing, which brings together scientists, technologists and economists. He is currently the Institute’s Chair Professor at the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai, India.

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