Abstract
Because of changing social and economic circumstances, all OECD countries reviewed in this monograph have placed increasing emphasis in their S & T policies upon priority assessment. Community goals are being more carefully formulated especially in so far as they relate to S & T policy and goals are being more carefully ordered and balanced against one another. There is apparently increased determination to get maximum benefit for society or the community from public funds spent on R & D and on S & T effort and representatives and members of the community are intervening more than ever to make their wants known and influence the allocation of public R & D funds.
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Notes and references
Arrow, K. J. (1951), Social Choice and Individual Values, John Wiley, New York.
Bell, Daniel (1973), The Coming of Post-Industrial Society: A Venture in Social Forecasting, Basic Books, New York, p. 307.
OECD (1979), Technology on Trial: Public Participation in Decision-Making Related to Science and Technology, Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, Paris, p. 56.
For a useful review of theories of capture of government regulatory bodies by special interest groups, see Posner, R. A. (1974), Theories of economic regulation, The Bell Journal of Economics and Management Science, 5 (2), pp. 335–58.
See also Scherer, F. M. (1980), Industrial Market Structure and Economic Performance, 2nd edn, Rand McNally, Chicago, p. 482.
Bell, Daniel (see ref 2) pp. 128, 129.
Richta, Radovan (1969), Civilization at the Crossroads, (translated from the Czechoslovakian), International Arts and Sciences Press, White Plains, NY, p. 250.
The Roses argue, for example, that scientists in capitalist countries for the main part are agents of capitalists. See Rose, Hilary and Steven (eds) (1976), The Political Economy of Science, Macmillan, London, Ch. 2.
Mishan also expresses his doubts about the independence of scientists and their idealism. He says `There is no reason why science and learning should appeal only to those pure in mind and motive’ Mishan E. J. (1970), Technology and Growth: The Price We Pay,Praeger, New York, Chs. 17 and 18 especially p. 125.
In a more recent book Noble also argues strongly that technology is not an autonomous force in history and that engineers have become agents of corporate capitalism. See Noble, David F. (1977), America by Design: Science and Technology and the Rise of Corporate Capitalism, Knopf, New York.
Gabor, Dennis (1972), The Mature Society, Seeker and Warburg, London, p. 44.
Stubbs, Peter (1980), Technology and Australia’s Future: Industry and International Competitiveness, AIDA Research Centre Publication, Melbourne, p. 126.
Bell, Daniel (see ref 2) p. 158.
Daly, Herman E. (1979), Entropy, growth and the political economy of scarcity, Scarcity and Growth Reconsidered (ed. V. Kerry Smith ), Johns Hopkins for Resources for the Future, Baltimore, 1979, pp. 67–94.
Gabor, Dennis (see ref 9).
Compare Bell, Daniel (ref. 2) pp. 366, 367.
a) For a discussion of several possibilities for conflict between individual and social rationality see Benn, S. I. and Mortimore, G. W. (eds) (1976), Rationality and the Social Sciences, Routledge and Kegan Paul, London.
Also relevant is Rowley, C. K. and Peacock, A. T. (1975), Welfare Economics: A Liberal Restatement,Martin Robertson, London, especially Parts 2 and 3.
This well known dilemma is outlined for example in Raiffa, H. and Luce, R. D. (1957), Games and Decisions, John Wiley, New York.
Mishan, E. J. (see 8b) Appendix B.
Compare Mishan, E. J. (ref 8b) Appendix A.
For a recent perceptive and critical review of these changing trends see the comments by the poet and conservationist Wright, Judith (1979), in Science and Technology for What Purpose? (ed. A. T. Healy), Australian Academy of Science, Canberra, pp. 348–51.
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Tisdell, C.A. (1981). Retrospect and Prospect. In: Science and Technology Policy. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-6932-5_6
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