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... What are the implications of uneven technological progress in the world economy for economics disparities?
Technological progress is the improvement of ways to produce goods and services. The industrial revolution brought about the first boom of technology and innovation, which took place in Britain and rapidly spread over much of Western Europe. It is clear that toady there extremely large disparities in the world economy. One key factor of structural economic change is the rate at which a country industrializes, and it’s advancement in technology. There have been many changes in history where the economic growth has been closely related to changes in technology, with industry from agriculture and then a shift towards services in modern day. ... (Rosenberg, 1982 p245) These are all examples of successful technology transfer and adaptation, which was just as, if not more significant in the technological advancement of a society.
A society’s rate of innovation is determined by its views on ‘risk aversion, leisure preference and time preference’ says Mokyr (1990 p152) The adoption of a new technique depends on the private costs paid by the inventor and the social costs paid by society as a whole, including effects on the environment. Only the West was able to turn this into a growth of technology initially. ... However life expectancy did not increase in Europe until 1750 whereas technological progress was already taking place. ...
The physical environment of a society does not automatically mean that technological progress will take place, but it does effect the technological advancements made. An example of this is the diffusion of watermill technology that changed the economies of Europe north of the Alps on the early middle ages (Strayer). The technology of the watermill was assimilated into England, whereas Ireland which has the same rainy weather did not. ...
Europe was disadvantaged in many ways through its agriculture, land management and its inefficient use of land intensive products such as fuel wood. Land saving knowledge was gained through its overseas empire and luck, such as forest saving coal. ... Also land intensive products were grown through colonialism and slavery in the new world, such as cotton, sugar, grain, timber and wool. ...
Path dependency or technological advancement dependant on its past, the spill over of old technologies because of natural resources is also one idea of why some societies became technologically advanced before others. ... This then became one of Britain’s biggest industrializing factors. ... Chinese interest in maths and physics increased in the 17th century after the Manchu conquest, at the same time as the European advances in science and technology. ...
Not all path dependency innovations and applications however lead to definite progress. In the 18th century the potato was adopted as the Irish staple food because of its higher caloric value than grain, but more grain was produced so areas which had invested specifically invested in potatoes stagnated economically (Mokyr, 1990)
Religion and the ethics brought about by a religious belief also propelled and hindered many societies. ... In Europe the belief was that nature was to be used and enjoyed, but this was not the same in the rest of the world. In India a rigid caste system where higher castes wanted stability and order over progress and growth (Jones, 1988) In order to protect their power and the status quo, they hindered technological advancement. The result of this was that apart from early hydraulic engineering and textile production there was little technological progress early on. Although only religion cannot be blamed for India’s slow industrialisation, there are also factors such as wars, colonialism and many natural disasters.
Another example includes factors such as ‘exposure effects’ (Mokyr, 1990 p186) and whether or not a society is open to new technology. ... (Lewis, 1982 p229-30) ‘The Islamic world’s ignorance of the west was profound. ...
Person (1981) said that in small conformist economies deviant acts such as invention were more noticeable and more important. ... Conformist thought had to be overcome in society for technology to progress
Europe engaged in transfer of technology from China; however Asian cultures except 19th century Japan did not.
Approximate Word count = 3269
Approximate Pages = 13.1
(250 words per page double spaced)
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