The obsession for competitiveness and its impact on statistics: the construction of high-technology indicators [An article from: Research Policy]

This digital document is a journal article from Research Policy, published by Elsevier in 2004. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Media Library immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Description:
High technology is a concept much in vogue in OECD countries, for it is a symbol of an 'advanced' economy. This paper looks at why and how the concept and its indicator acquired such fame. It explains that the reason has to do with the fact that the indicator emerged in the context of debates on the competitiveness of countries and their efforts to maintain or improve their positions in world trade. The first part looks at the early statistics behind the indicator (R&D/sales), statistics developed in official analyses of industrial R&D surveys before the 1950s. The second part traces the evolution of the R&D/sales ratio in the 1960s through its use as an indicator of research or technological intensity. The third part discusses the internationalization of the indicator via the OECD.