Edited by Maria-Inês Bastos and Charles Cooper
Published by Routledge and the UNU Press, 1995
ISBN 0-415-12690-8, 258 pages

Abstract
Technology policy studies in Latin America have lacked systematic discussion regarding the political aspects of the decision-making and policy implementation process. This book contains the results of a study designed to address this overlooked aspect. Two major questions are posed: (a) What capacity have Latin American states exhibited to date for promoting science and technology activities? (b) To what extent can the existence or lack of such capacity be explained by political factors? Case studies in Argentina, Brazil and Mexico were oriented around these questions.
The main conclusion is that the governments of these countries have shown strong capacity in support of innovation only through a few of their various agencies and in very specific industries. Most of what has been achieved in technology innovation is modest and the result of industrialisation policies, in contrast to the grand objectives of technology policy. Two interconnected aspects of state-society relations help explain this result. One is the deficient or even conflicting relationship between state agencies and industrialists and engineers/researchers. The other is the political regime. In Latin America, authoritarianism has been an impediment to the implementation of realistic technology policies. The restoration of constitutional order, increased accountability and transparency create a more conducive environment for such policies.

What role does science and technology policy play in the future economic and social development of Latin America? Import substitution is dead, and discussion must therefore focus on technology policy in the context of liberalised open economies. A selective but active state intervention will still be needed. The present Latin American experience suggests that when there is no serious intervention in favour of technological change, the economy tends to get stuck in traditional short-run patterns of comparative advantage. These may produce exports, but will they produce development?