Non-Governmental Influences on Technical Change

Abstract

So far in the book we have discussed technical change carried out by industrial firms under the influence of the market, government policies and the firms’ own goals, strategies and general ‘culture’. Since approximately 85 per cent of resources devoted to R & D in Britain and America is spent on work done in industrial or government (chiefly industrial) establishments, while over 90 per cent of these funds come from industry or government (Tables 8.1 and 8.2), clearly these institutions play the dominant role in determining the rate and direction of technical change. Individuals who are neither senior managers nor government ministers generally exert an influence over the rate, direction, scale and consequences of innovation only in their role as consumers making choices in the market place or, indirectly, as citizens electing representatives who in turn may determine the policy of government.