Technology-based globalization indicators: the centrality of innovation
network data
Technology in Society, 25 (3):
299-317 (2003/8)Abstract
Useful technology-based indicators are central to efforts to gain
insights into the causes and consequences of globalization. But traditional
technology-based globalization indicators are of limited use because
they are based exclusively on innovation inputs (e.g. R&D spending)
or outputs (e.g. patenting). Coming to grips with the globalization
phenomenon requires more attention to events taking place in the
innovation process itself. Indicators of technological collaboration
(e.g. strategic alliances, joint ventures, intimate supplier-producer
linkages) help fill this gap. Focusing on these cooperative arrangements
places the emphasis where it should be--on the key organizational
actors (e.g. firms, universities, government agencies) in the process
of globalization. Indicators based on the dynamics of these innovation
networks hold great promise for integrating input and output indicators.
An example is the development of indicators of social capital--a
stock of collective learning. Viewing globalization through the lens
of the emergence and evolution of social capital points out that
even in the most powerful technological innovation process, success
depends as much on social factors (e.g. the key roles of trust, shared
values, and community) as on economic, scientific, or engineering
variables.
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