National Academies Press: OpenBook
Suggested Citation:"Front matter." National Academy of Engineering. 1993. Mastering a New Role: Shaping Technology Policy for National Economic Performance. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2103.
×

Series on PROSPERING IN A GLOBAL ECONOMY

Mastering a New Role

Shaping Technology Policy for National Economic Performance

Committee on Technology Policy Options in a Global Economy

NATIONAL ACADEMY OF ENGINEERING

NATIONAL ACADEMY PRESS
WASHINGTON, D.C.
1993

Suggested Citation:"Front matter." National Academy of Engineering. 1993. Mastering a New Role: Shaping Technology Policy for National Economic Performance. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2103.
×

NATIONAL ACADEMY PRESS
2101 Constitution Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20418

NOTICE: The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences, as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers. It is autonomous in its administration and in the selection of its members, sharing with the National Academy of Sciences the responsibility for advising the federal government. The National Academy of Engineering also sponsors engineering programs aimed at meeting national needs, encourages education and research, and recognizes the superior achievements of engineers. Dr. Robert M. White is president of the National Academy of Engineering.

This publication has been reviewed by a group other than the authors according to procedures approved by a National Academy of Engineering report review process.

Partial funding for this effort was provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and the National Academy of Engineering Technology Agenda Program.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

National Academy of Engineering. Committee on Technology Policy Options in a Global Economy.

Mastering a new role : shaping technology policy for national economic performance/Committee on Technology Policy Options in a Global Economy, National Academy of Engineering.

p. cm. — (Series on prospering in a global economy)

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 0-309-04646-7

1. Industry and state—United States. 2. High technology industries—Government policy—United States. I. Title. II. Series.

HD3616.U47N24 1993

338.973—dc20 93-3912

CIP

Copyright 1993 by the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.

Printed in the United States of America

Suggested Citation:"Front matter." National Academy of Engineering. 1993. Mastering a New Role: Shaping Technology Policy for National Economic Performance. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2103.
×

Committee on Technology Policy Options in a Global Economy

HARVEY BROOKS, Cochairman, Professor of Technology and Public Policy,

Emeritus, Harvard University

JOHN S. FOSTER, JR., Cochairman, Chairman,

Defense Science Board

H. NORMAN ABRAMSON, Retired Executive Vice President,

Southwest Research Institute

JOHN A. ARMSTRONG, Vice President for Science and Technology,

IBM Corporation

ERICH BLOCH, Distinguished Fellow,

Council on Competitiveness

MICHAEL L. DERTOUZOS, Director,

Laboratory for Computer Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

BOB O. EVANS, Executive Vice President and Managing Partner,

Technology Strategies & Alliances

HAROLD K. FORSEN, Senior Vice President and Manager,

Bechtel Technology Group, Bechtel Group, Inc.

WILLIAM G. HOWARD, JR., Independent Consultant,

Scottsdale, Arizona

STEPHEN J. KLINE, Professor of Mechanical Engineering,

Stanford University

JAMES F. MATHIS, Chairman,

New Jersey Commission on Science and Technology

JOHN S. MAYO, President,

AT&T Bell Laboratories

M. EUGENE MERCHANT, Senior Consultant,

Institute of Advanced Manufacturing Sciences

JOSEPH E. ROWE, Associate Vice President for Research and Director,

University of Dayton Research Institute

Suggested Citation:"Front matter." National Academy of Engineering. 1993. Mastering a New Role: Shaping Technology Policy for National Economic Performance. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2103.
×

ERNEST T. SMERDON, Dean of Engineering and Mines,

University of Arizona

ALBERTUS D. WELLIVER, Corporate Senior Vice President,

Engineering and Technology, The Boeing Company

NAE Staff

PROCTOR P. REID, Study Director, Senior Program Officer

PENELOPE J. GIBBS, Administrative Assistant

MARGERY HARRIS, Administrative Secretary

Suggested Citation:"Front matter." National Academy of Engineering. 1993. Mastering a New Role: Shaping Technology Policy for National Economic Performance. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2103.
×

Preface

In recent years the national debate about technology policy has revolved around the relative roles of government, industry, and universities; of science and technology; and of defense and nondefense agencies. Governmental, academic, and industrial institutions, at the heart of our nation's technological enterprise, are midstream in a profound and sometimes wrenching reexamination of their missions and responsibilities as they seek changed roles in a new and unfamiliar world—a world without a Cold War but with new levels of global economic integration and and technological interdependence. There is a widespread recognition that U.S. economic performance and national security are intimately tied to the nation's ability to adjust its government policies and private-sector practices to a world economy rapidly being changed by transborder flows of goods, services, technology, and capital.

This report of a committee of members of the National Academy of Engineering addresses both goals for national technology policy and promising paths along which to pursue those goals. The report reaches back in time to World War II and examines the genesis of our nation's current policies. With that background, and bringing to bear some of the most recent experience and scholarship about how technology is used by successful companies to drive economic growth, the report argues that it is time for the U.S. government to master a new and unfamiliar role in helping the private economy develop and diffuse technology explicitly for purposes of enhanced economic performance.

On behalf of the National Academy of Engineering, I would like to thank the cochairmen—John Foster and Harvey Brooks—and the other members of the committee (named on p. iii) for their considerable efforts on this

Suggested Citation:"Front matter." National Academy of Engineering. 1993. Mastering a New Role: Shaping Technology Policy for National Economic Performance. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2103.
×

project. In particular, I would also like to thank Proctor Reid, the study director, who managed the project and helped elicit consensus among the committee members. Alexander Flax, NAE senior fellow, and Bruce Guile, director of the NAE Program Office, provided their valuable insights to the committee and the study director over the course of the project. Kathryn Jackson, former NAE fellow, contributed to the committee's work during the early stages of project, and several members of the NAE Program Office, past and present, deserve thanks for their help, including Barbara Becker, Penelope Gibbs, Margery Harris, H. Dale Langford, and Annemarie Terraciano. Funding for this effort was provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and the National Academy of Engineering Technology Agenda Program.

ROBERT M. WHITE

President

National Academy of Engineering

Page viii Cite
Suggested Citation:"Front matter." National Academy of Engineering. 1993. Mastering a New Role: Shaping Technology Policy for National Economic Performance. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2103.
×
Suggested Citation:"Front matter." National Academy of Engineering. 1993. Mastering a New Role: Shaping Technology Policy for National Economic Performance. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2103.
×

Figures and Tables

Figures

1.1

 

Scientists and engineers engaged in R&D per 10,000 labor force, by country: 1965 and 1989

 

12

1.2

 

National shares of world high-tech production and trade, by country: 1970

 

21

2.1

 

Rate of issuance of design changes, patterns of U.S. and Japanese auto manufacturers

 

38

2.2

 

National R&D expenditures, by country: 1964–1990

 

41

2.3

 

Nondefense R&D expenditures as a percentage of gross national product, by country: 1971–1990

 

42

2.4

 

Trends in employment of scientists and engineers in R&D, by country: 1965–1989

 

43

2.5

 

Shares of global market for high-tech manufactures: 1980, 1987, 1990

 

45

2.6

 

Growth in world trade, output, domestic investment, and foreign direct investment: 1975–1991

 

46

2.7

 

Ratio of imported to domestic sourcing of inputs, average of manufacturing goods, by country

 

51

2.8

 

Number of new transnational corporate technology alliances, by industry: 1980–1989

 

52

3.1

 

Basic research expenditures, by country: 1988

 

62

3.2

 

Home market share of world consumption of high-tech products: 1988

 

64

3.3

 

Distribution of U.S. private-sector expenditure on formal training

 

73

3.4

 

Private industry expenditure on plant and equipment as a percentage of gross domestic product: 1972–1990

 

75

Suggested Citation:"Front matter." National Academy of Engineering. 1993. Mastering a New Role: Shaping Technology Policy for National Economic Performance. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2103.
×

Tables

1.1

 

Federal Government Role in the U.S. R&D Enterprise, Shares in Percent

 

10

1.2

 

Support for U.S. Academic R&D, Percent Shares by Sector: 1960–1991

 

11

1.3

 

National Security's Contribution to the U.S. R&D Portfolio, Shares in Percent

 

13

2.1

 

Changing Organizational Patterns in U.S. Industry

 

33

2.2

 

Use of New Technology in Manufacturing, Japan and the United States: 1988

 

39

2.3

 

Import Share of Domestic Market for High-Tech Manufactures, by Country: 1980, 1986, 1990

 

46

2.4

 

Foreign-Controlled Firms' Share of Total Business Enterprise R&D Expenditure, Employment, and Product Shipments in Manufacturing Enterprises in Six Countries

 

47

2.5

 

Measures of the Proportion of Foreign Direct Investment in the U.S. Economy

 

48

3.1

 

U.S. Competitive Position in Critical Technologies

 

79

3.2

 

Government R&D Support by Socioeconomic Objective, by Country: 1989

 

81

3.3

 

International Patent and License Transactions, Selected Countries: 1990

 

83

Suggested Citation:"Front matter." National Academy of Engineering. 1993. Mastering a New Role: Shaping Technology Policy for National Economic Performance. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2103.
×

Mastering a New Role

Suggested Citation:"Front matter." National Academy of Engineering. 1993. Mastering a New Role: Shaping Technology Policy for National Economic Performance. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2103.
×
This page in the original is blank.
Suggested Citation:"Front matter." National Academy of Engineering. 1993. Mastering a New Role: Shaping Technology Policy for National Economic Performance. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2103.
×
Page R1
Suggested Citation:"Front matter." National Academy of Engineering. 1993. Mastering a New Role: Shaping Technology Policy for National Economic Performance. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2103.
×
Page R2
Suggested Citation:"Front matter." National Academy of Engineering. 1993. Mastering a New Role: Shaping Technology Policy for National Economic Performance. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2103.
×
Page R3
Suggested Citation:"Front matter." National Academy of Engineering. 1993. Mastering a New Role: Shaping Technology Policy for National Economic Performance. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2103.
×
Page R4
Suggested Citation:"Front matter." National Academy of Engineering. 1993. Mastering a New Role: Shaping Technology Policy for National Economic Performance. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2103.
×
Page R5
Suggested Citation:"Front matter." National Academy of Engineering. 1993. Mastering a New Role: Shaping Technology Policy for National Economic Performance. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2103.
×
Page R6
Suggested Citation:"Front matter." National Academy of Engineering. 1993. Mastering a New Role: Shaping Technology Policy for National Economic Performance. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2103.
×
Page R7
Page viii Cite
Suggested Citation:"Front matter." National Academy of Engineering. 1993. Mastering a New Role: Shaping Technology Policy for National Economic Performance. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2103.
×
Page R8
Suggested Citation:"Front matter." National Academy of Engineering. 1993. Mastering a New Role: Shaping Technology Policy for National Economic Performance. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2103.
×
Page R9
Suggested Citation:"Front matter." National Academy of Engineering. 1993. Mastering a New Role: Shaping Technology Policy for National Economic Performance. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2103.
×
Page R10
Suggested Citation:"Front matter." National Academy of Engineering. 1993. Mastering a New Role: Shaping Technology Policy for National Economic Performance. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2103.
×
Page R11
Suggested Citation:"Front matter." National Academy of Engineering. 1993. Mastering a New Role: Shaping Technology Policy for National Economic Performance. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2103.
×
Page R12
Next: Executive Summary »
Mastering a New Role: Shaping Technology Policy for National Economic Performance Get This Book
×
Buy Paperback | $45.00
MyNAP members save 10% online.
Login or Register to save!
Download Free PDF

This book examines the changing character of commercial technology development and diffusion in an integrated global economy and its implications for U.S. public policies in support of technological innovation. The volume considers the history, current practice, and future prospects for national policies to encourage economic development through both direct and indirect government support of technological advance.

  1. ×

    Welcome to OpenBook!

    You're looking at OpenBook, NAP.edu's online reading room since 1999. Based on feedback from you, our users, we've made some improvements that make it easier than ever to read thousands of publications on our website.

    Do you want to take a quick tour of the OpenBook's features?

    No Thanks Take a Tour »
  2. ×

    Show this book's table of contents, where you can jump to any chapter by name.

    « Back Next »
  3. ×

    ...or use these buttons to go back to the previous chapter or skip to the next one.

    « Back Next »
  4. ×

    Jump up to the previous page or down to the next one. Also, you can type in a page number and press Enter to go directly to that page in the book.

    « Back Next »
  5. ×

    Switch between the Original Pages, where you can read the report as it appeared in print, and Text Pages for the web version, where you can highlight and search the text.

    « Back Next »
  6. ×

    To search the entire text of this book, type in your search term here and press Enter.

    « Back Next »
  7. ×

    Share a link to this book page on your preferred social network or via email.

    « Back Next »
  8. ×

    View our suggested citation for this chapter.

    « Back Next »
  9. ×

    Ready to take your reading offline? Click here to buy this book in print or download it as a free PDF, if available.

    « Back Next »
Stay Connected!