bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
SIMPLE ANALYTICS OF THE EMPLOYMENT IMPACT OF TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE
Authors: Newton Keith
Published: October 2008

In the debate concerning the economic consequences of technological change much has been written about the possibility of job loss. Relatively few studies have used an explicit framework of micro- and macro-economic analysis to examine this topic, however. Assertions about the employment outcome of the process of technical change tend to involve pessimistic generalisations from particular cases or a resort to optimistic predictions based on elegant but unrealistic neoclassical analysis. The present paper is designed to use simple tools of micro- and macro-economic theory to illustrate a variety of factors which may impinge upon this complex question and to show the circumstances in which technologically-induced unemployment may arise.
THE ROLE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY IN THE MODERNISATION PLAN FOR CHINA
Authors: Kennard Colin
                      H. L.
Published: October 2008

Science and technology have been promoted as one of the catalysts to create the new China. National planning seeks to consolidate and modernise the existing system. Such priority areas as energy, materials, computers and high energy physics have been distinguished. Much discussion has related to the difficulties of integrating science and technology policy with economic policy. Specific problems have been centralised control over research and development, the acquisition of technology from other countries, and the establishment of new industries using the new technology.
EMERGING BIOTECHNOLOGIES: SOME ECONOMIC IMPLICATIONS FOR AGRICULTURE AND TECHNOLOGY POLICY
Authors: Johnston B. G. , Wonder B. S. , Gerardi W.
Published: October 2008

Biotechnology is one of a number of technologies that may improve productivity and competitiveness in the rural and non-rural industries. As in other areas of research in Australia, the biotechnology research program will be undertaken by both the private and public sectors. Determination of an economically efficient balance between private and public research activities has often been made by reference to the market failure model. The principal characteristics of that model (namely indivisibility, inappropriability and uncertainty) suggest several reasons why governments may wish to consider supplementing the research effort undertaken by the private sector. To establish socially optimal levels of public expenditure on biotechnology research and development, and the priorities for such expenditure, it is necessary to go beyond the market failure model and use an explicit cost-benefit framework. Such a framework is developed and the main economic variables likely to affect net social returns to investment in biotechnology research and development are identified. These variables are compared with the funding criteria employed by the National Biotechnology Program Research Grants Advisory Committee and it is concluded that considerable scope exists for injecting additional economic analysis into the assessment procedures currently used by that Committee.
INDUSTRY PROTECTION AND ADJUSTMENT: THE AUSTRALIAN EXPERIENCE
Authors: Gregory R. G.
Published: October 2008

Australian industrial policy is primarily concerned with protecting the manufacturing sector by the use of tariffs and quotas. Over the last decade and a half successive governments have announced an intention to move towards lower tariffs. The result has been lower tariffs on average, but the introduction ofimport quotas in response to the 1974–75 recession has resulted in large increases in protection for the textile, clothing, footwear and motor vehicle industries. These sectors are covered by Industry Plans. There is a stated intention to liberalize trade, but for a decade the market share of imports has been fixed. On the basis of past experience, there is a low probability that significant trade liberalization will occur. Australian industrial policy has failed to create a more efficient manufacturing sector. It is reactive and has slowed the rate of structural change. It is a good example of the way in which initiatives to restrict trade flows by ‘temporary’ quotas — intended to provide a breathing space so an industry can reorganise and compete more effectively against imports — can result in import quotas becoming a near permanent feature of the economic environment. The Australian economy has also been subject to largeexchange rate appreciations. Our experience is that unusual appreciations bring to the forefront of structural change those industries which have already set out upon a path of long run decline. Once the appreciations have passed, these troubled industries are not placed back in their original position relative to imports.
CHALLENGE AND RESPONSE: DEVELOPING A SYSTEM FOR EDUCATING MORE EFFECTIVE AGRICULTURALISTS
Authors: Macadam Robert D. , Bawden Richard J.
Published: October 2008

The need for competency-based tertiary education to meet the demands of contemporary agriculture is explored. The response at one Australian agricultural college has been a fundamental reform of its curricula. The aim is to produce graduates who take a holistic approach and are effective problem solvers and situation improvers. A conceptual model of a system to educate the new class of agriculturalists has been developed by reflecting on what has occurred since the review process began in 1978. The model is used to review the change process and reveal insights that may be useful as a guide for similar ventures in other settings.
MARKET FAILURE AND GOVERNMENT SUPPORT FOR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY: ECONOMIC THEORY VERSUS POLITICAL PRACTICE
Authors: Joseph R. A. , Johnston R.
Published: October 2008

The economic justification for government support for science and technology has been commonly based on the concept of market failure. The general theoretical argument is that governments should intervene in cases where the free market fails to achieve an efficient allocation of resources. In this paper, the inadequacies of the concepts of market failure as they apply to policy are outlined. Its use in the political process, given these restrictive shortcomings, is also considered. Examples are drawn from Australian experience in science and technology policy over the past few years to support the claim that the concept is neither a sufficient basis nor an adequate guide for government intervention. Rather it has been used to justify politically determined decisions. Special reference is made to the Australian Industrial Research and Development Incentives Scheme.
HIGH TECHNOLOGY, EMPLOYMENT AND THE CHALLENGES TO EDUCATION
Authors: Gordon Richard , Kimball Linda M.
Published: October 2008

The contribution of employment in high technology industry to future employment growth in the US economy is estimated to be small. Much high technology employment is not professional work at all, but routine labour, and much of that performed by minority groups with few career opportunities. Most new jobs will occur in occupations requiring no more than secondary education. High technology may generate employment in other areas, but often low grade work performed in the “homework economy”. Appropriate education for employment in high technology industry and in computer-related fields is not necessarily specialised and technical; high-quality general education is probably more important. Instrumental education, ignorant of the demands of high technology, and of the demands a modern economy makes upon high technology, is likely to be counter-productive. Commercial and technical success requires a combination of cultural learning and technical skill.
ASPECTS OF TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT IN A DEVELOPING PETROLEUM TRANSITION ERA
Authors: Chambers Michael R.
Published: October 2008

Australia is faced with the need to augment and replace rapidly depleting indigenous petroleum. Because there are many possible solutions and wide ranging impacts associated with this problem, the use of an evaluative technology assessment framework is proposed. The purpose is to provide a means whereby likely technical, socio-economic, legal and regulatory requirements and consequences of policy options can be canvassed and appraised. Factors influencing the credibility, usefulness and efficacy of such technology assessments are examined, and methodologies appropriate to one application, viz petroleum substitution, are explored. The energy sector is used primarily here, therefore, to exemplify the value of the technology assessment approach to policy making. A systems simulation and optimal resources allocation mode is used to illustrate planning procedures and to highlight such matters as innovation needs, resource requirements and societal changes.
TECHNOLOGY AND PUBLIC CHOICE: STRATEGIES FOR TECHNOLOGICAL CONTROL AND THE SELECTION OF TECHNOLOGIES
Authors: Badham R.J.
Published: October 2008

Despite a dramatic growth in interest in technology over the last two decades, this has not resulted in a clear understanding of either the nature of technological change or the basis for its regulation. Part of the problem is the ambiguous heritage of science, technology and society studies which rose to prominence in the 1970s. This paper seeks to provide a theoretical scheme for categorising the commonly used models of technological change: to outline the limitations of ‘technocratic’ and ‘technophobic’ approaches to technology and social development and argue for the superiority of an explicitly ‘technochoice’ approach; and to discuss the dominant models for the public control of technology.
INDUSTRIAL AND TECHNOLOGICAL POLICIES IN POSTWAR WESTERN EUROPE
Authors: Aislabie Colin
Published: October 2008

The structuralist thinking that generates industry and technology policies does not arise in a vacuum since all economic policies have structuralist implications. As economic policies change over time, so do the structuralist implications that can be drawn from them. An examination of specific major postwar Western European economic policies reveals that they do tend to influence the nature of industry and technology policies. But these industry and technology policies do not provide simple recipes for changing the industrial mix so that it is relevant to contemporary economic policy goals.
ELECTRONIC TECHNOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT INFORMATION IN AGRICULTURE
Authors: Harrison S.R.
Published: October 2008

Recent developments in electronic technology offer possibilities for management information systems in agriculture, which differ radically from traditional information sources. This paper illustrates how all the elements are now available for an integrated farm office workstation, allowing financial planning and control, livestock and paddock database management, access to large commercial databases, and electronic selling of produce, banking and communications. Although the outlay required for this new technology is small relative to plant and equipment items, adoption by the Australian farming community has been slow. It is argued that the rate of diffusion has been limited more by educational and psychological factors than by the adequacy and cost effectiveness of the new technology. Government and industry initiatives to promote adoption are reviewed.
COMMENTARY ROTHSCHILD IN AUSTRALIA? THE ORGANISATION OF R & D IN THE UNITED KINGDOM
Authors: Brotchie John F. , Robertson Malcolm
Published: October 2008

The Rothschild scheme was introduced in the UK in 1972 and there have been recent calls for a similar approach from Australian government departments. However, numerous reviews and reports on the scheme have shown it to be largely ineffective, inefficient, inflexible and unbalanced. Consequently, it has failed to produce a coherent national research program. A database scan of the literature confirms these conclusions. Some dismantling of the scheme has now taken place in the UK.
TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT IN MEDICINE: AN AUSTRALIAN PROPOSAL
Authors: Richardson J.
Published: October 2008

A large part of the increasing cost of health care services is often attributed to the introduction of new technology. While a review of the literature reveals that the evidence to support this view is ambiguous, it does indicate that the unregulated market fails to discriminate well between effective and ineffective health care technology. In some cases it has permitted the proliferation of medically harmful technology. At present Australia does not have a regulatory mechanism for ensuring the efficient use of new technology. The present paper suggests how such a mechanism could be established and the incentives that would be necessary to encourage the proliferation of only effective and efficient medical technology.
TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER REVISITED: RECENT TRENDS AND DEVELOPMENTS
Authors: Vickery Graham
Published: October 2008

Technology transfer between countries is a complex process which takes many forms. This paper examines aggregate statistics to give a picture of recent developments in international licensing, R & D performed by foreign firms and foreign direct investment. These general developments provide the context for the evolution of firm strategies and the elaboration of government policy.
THE ELECTRONICS MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA: TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION IN A MIDDLE ECONOMY
Authors: Morkel André , Syme John
Published: October 2008

The electronics manufacturing industry of Western Australia consists of a group of innovative technology-based firms in a regional middle economy. Four basic strategies were identified where local manufacture and local technological entrepreneurs are able to develop viable businesses with little or no protection and only modest (if any) government support. The circumstances of the firm's establishment, whether market driven, technology driven, capital driven or oriented towards local business only, persisted in shaping the strategic orientation of the company, at least in the present stages of the industry. The companies do not compete directly with multinationals in consumer markets, but rather are oriented towards specialised industrial markets using niche strategies.
AUSTRALIAN MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY — THIRD TIME LUCKY
Authors: Solomon D.H. , Spurling T.H.
Published: October 2008

The title of this paper “Australian Manufacturing Industry — Third Time Lucky?” carries with it the implication that Australia has had two previous attempts at establishing a manufacturing industry in which we failed to achieve the success we desired. We will examine some of the historical and economic reasons for this failure and use this analysis to indicate how we can establish a viable export-oriented manufacturing industry in Austrailia.
THE EVOLVING TECHNOLOGY OF VERMIN CONTROL IN COLONIAL AUSTRALIA
Authors: Thompson Jack , Perkins John
Published: October 2008

Settlers in colonial Australia resorted initially to traditional methods of vermin control inherited from Europe, namely, trapping and hunting. The magnitude of the problem required eventually the development of novel, more sophisticated and considerably more costly technologies.
BANKING INDUSTRY EMPLOYEES AND TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE
Authors: Dufty Norman F. , Savery Lawson K. , Soutar Geoffrey N.
Published: October 2008

The introduction of new technology has been of concern to banking unions but the chances of them effectively influencing such decisions are determined by the importance attached to the issue by members and their willingness to undertake industrial action. This paper reports a study which attempted to examine this issue by investigating union members’ experiences with various types of new technology, their attitudes towards those technologies and various aspects of their work lives and also their willingness to undertake industrial action over the introduction of new technology into their workplace.
GOVERNMENT EXPENDITURE ON IVF PROGRAMS: AN EXPLORATORY STUDY
Authors: Bartels Ditta
Published: October 2008

The technology of IVF not only presents society with a range of social and ethical difficulties, but also consumes vast resources from the ‘public purse'. This paper provides an estimate of recent government expenditure on IVF programs and argues that the $32 million figure arrived at is far short of the actual sums involved. Pregnancy rates are also examined, and the conclusion is reached that on average 34 treatment cycles are required to produce one pregnancy which results in the birth of a baby that is is not premature, defective or dead at birth.
TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT: THE CONTINUING STORY IN CANADA
Authors: Wilson Andrew H.
Published: October 2008

Just over three years ago, in June 1984, the government of Canada received the report of its task force on federal policies and programs for technology development (the Wright report). Three months later, this (Liberal) government was defeated in a general election. In its election platform, and during its first months in office, the new (Progressive Conservative) government appeared to favour the kinds of measures and approaches recommended by Wright and his colleagues. Since then the picture has been somewhat confused. On the one hand, there have been changes in policy, budget cuts and some reorganisation affecting federal science departments and agencies. On the other, there have been more programme studies, some programme changes, and increasing emphasis placed on the participation of the private sector in co-operative R & D. This paper looks back to the recommendations of the Wright report and to what has happened to them under the new government. The paper concludes that the report was timely, that it had a positive influence on some of the new government's actions, but, like other similar reports, its impact was diminished by events. The paper also concludes that the Wright report's main thrust — the improved management of federal activities in technology development — has been set back by budget and other cuts and changes.
RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT IN AUSTRALIA: THE ROLE OF MULTINATIONAL CORPORATIONS
Authors: Lewis Donald F. , Mangan John
Published: October 2008

Limited expenditure on R & D has received inadequate attention as an explanation of Australia's poor economic performance. This paper compares the level and composition of R & D expenditure in Australia with those of other countries. Some reasons for Australia's low level of R & D are explored and the policy implications of the analysis are investigated.
TELECONFERENCING IN MODERN ENTERPRISES
Authors: Alemson M.A.
Published: October 2008

Teleconferencing makes possible the communication of persons or groups at two or more different locations. If all participants are present simultaneously, it is classed as synchronous. In contrast, asynchronous teleconferencing offers store-and-forward options, and enables meetings to extend over time. Teleconferencing is viewed within the wider framework of its integration with associated forms of electronic technology, in particular, the ‘Decision Conference’; and consideration is given to the challenge this poses to a firm. Does its successful implementation require major re-structuring of the firm's existing organization? Are the synergic benefits gained by the new technologies influential in serving to integrate formerly discrete functions?
THE ‘COMMUNICATIONS REVOLUTION’ AND THE HOUSEHOLD: SOME THOUGHTS FROM THE JAPANESE EXPERIENCE
Authors: Morris-Suzuki Tessa
Published: October 2008

In recent years there has been much debate on the likely impact of new communications media on the household. In Japan, where progress in the development and application of communications technology has been rapid, a large-scale experiment was conducted between 1984 and 1987 to test public acceptance of these media. This article examines some of the major findings of the experiment. It concludes that household use of the new media in the immediate future is likely to be very limited. In the longer run such use may expand, but a number of important technological and social changes will be necessary before large-scale expansion can occur.
THE SOCIAL SHAPING OF A LABORATORY: THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE AUSTRALIAN ANIMAL HEALTH LABORATORY
Authors: Scott Pam
Published: October 2008

Technologies are often presented and perceived as being inevitable, natural and necessary, as if they were the products of some inner logic. As a result, there has been a tendency in the past to focus on the effect or impact a technology has on society at the expense of investigating the origin of the technology. More recently, efforts have been made to penetrate the ‘black box’ of the technological artifact in order to reveal the variety of ways technologies are shaped. This paper will discuss the economic, political and other social factors which shaped the Australian Animal Health Laboratory and which determined its proposed functions.
STRATEGIC COMMITMENT, UNKNOWLEDGE AND THE NATURE OF ENTREPRENEURIAL ACTIVITY
Authors: Ross Bruce W.
Published: October 2008

This paper argues that the essence of entrepreneurial activity is ‘strategic commitment’, which encompasses strategic thought and decision, together with commitment based on that strategy. Three distinct types of commitment are identified — resource commitment, psychological commitment and organisational commitment. The implications of a recognition of the pervasiveness of unknowledge in entrepreneurial activity are discussed. The paper also suggests that the term ‘entrepreneur’ be reserved for individuals who have demonstrated a singular aptitude for and commitment to enhancing their organisation's relationship with its environment.
TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE AND ITS IMPACT ON MEDIA POLICY PLANNING
Authors: Wilenski Peter
Published: October 2008

In the media there is a complex interaction between technological change, markets and policy. The policy questions that arise are complex but not insoluble. Who should provide the technological infrastructure? Is economic, social or technical regulation required? If so, what is to be regulated? If technical regulation is required, what are to be the technical standards? We are no longer simply reacting to technological change but are actually planning ahead of change.
FRENCH TELEMATICS: HISTORY, POLICY AND PROJECTS
Authors: Chamoux Jean-Pierre
Published: October 2008

Telematics dates from 1978 when it was used to designate the growing overlap between computers and telecommunications. The initial phase was the provision of an electronic substitute for the telephone directory. The free distribution of Minitels was followed by the Teletel 3 V experiment which gave a test population access to a wide range of services. A special billing system had to be developed. Telematics has been extended to the industrial world and business relations.
SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND DEVELOPMENT IN ASIA: NEW TRENDS AND OLD MODELS
Authors: Henry Reg
Published: October 2008

This paper reviews the operation of the science and technology (S&T) for development strategy in the developing countries of Asia since its introduction in the 1960s. It is particularly concerned with the performance of S&T policy-making and planning in promoting the goals of that S&T for development strategy. The various problems which the strategy has faced are discussed, and the subsequent trends, especially towards greater emphasis on S&T policymaking and planning, are explained. The paper concludes by assessing the implications of these problems and trends for the entire S&T for development strategy in the developing countries of Asia.
HOSPITAL COSTS AND INFORMATION THEORY CASE MIX INDEXES: RESULTS FOR QUEENSLAND
Authors: Butler J.R.G.
Published: October 2008

The use of information theory as a basis for the construction of scalar case mix indexes for hospitals is well established but to date no results arising from an application of these indexes to Australian hospitals have been published. This paper provides a simplified explanation of the information theory approach and constructs the indexes for Queensland public hospitals. The usefulness of the indexes is then demonstrated with two applications. First, they are used to explain the variation in average cost per case between the hospitals in the study and are found to account for a small but statistically significant amount of such variation. Second, they are employed to provide estimates of state mean average and marginal costs by case type in Queensland. The resulting estimates are all both positive and plausible, characteristics not commonly found in estimates obtained using other techniques.
COMMUNICATIONS — AN ANTIPODEAN EXERCISE
Authors: Kirby Michael
Published: October 2008

Events in Italy and the rest of the world were confirming Pareto's predictions … [T]he national government was incapacitated by indecision … It was in this milieu that Italian fascism took root … On aggregate, people had come to feel that they should grow prosperous without having to work hard. As a consequence more energy was invested in connivance and in devising ways of transferring existing wealth than in constructive activity and the production of new wealth. With workers engaged in prolonged strikes and capitalists busy with parasitic or speculative activities yielding quick and easy money, no class was contributing to sustained growth or real property … corporate giants and organised labour were granted whatever concessions they asked for, at the expense of the general public. (C.H. Powers (ed.) in V. Pareto, The Transformation of Democracy, Transl., R. Girola, pp 17-18).
THE INFORMATION SOCIETY: COMPUTOPIA, DYSTOPIA, MYOPIA
Authors: Bryant Antony
Published: October 2008

As the twenty-first century approaches … the possibilities of a univerally opulent society being realised have appeared in the sense that [Adam] Smith envisioned it, and the information society that will emerge from the computer communications revolution will be a society that actually moves towards a universal society of plenty … this is what I mean by “Computopia” (Masuda)

Our culture … is already committed to the proposition that the only legitimate knowledge we can gain of our world is that yielded by science. All thinking, dreaming, feeling, indeed all other sources of insight have already be delegitimated. The indoctrination of our children's minds with simplistic and uninformed computer idolatory … is a pandemic phenomenon (Weizenbaum)2
R&D PROJECT ASSESSMENT AS AN INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION PROCESS
Authors: Dwyer Larry
Published: October 2008

The paper has three main objectives, viz, to emphasize the need for informed project assessment as central to the effective management of R&D by Australian businesses; to argue that different assessment techniques will be applicable to different stages of a project's development; to emphasize the importance of R&D project assessment as an information and communication process which helps to promote a firm's goals. In addressing these issues the paper highlights some of the ways in which managers of Australian companies can learn from overseas experience and outlines some of the challenges facing Australian management at this time.
THE EFFECTIVE PATENT LIFE OF PHARMACEUTICALS IN NEW ZEALAND — A SIMULATION
Authors: Parker John
Published: October 2008

This paper estimates effective patent life of pharmaceuticals in New Zealand (NZ EPL). A simulation technique is used based on the linking effect of the International Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property. The simulation procedure suggests that NZ EPL is declining and will yield no protection in the fairly near future, for drugs from the USA, UK and Switzerland. Two consequences for pharmaceuticals are suggested. One, the focus of the NZ patent term is likely to shift from the normal period of 16 years to the maximum available when extensions are included. Two, applications for extensions are likely to become routine. In these terms the recommendations by the Industrial Property Advisory Committee (IPAC), at least as they apply to pharmaceuticals, that the current patent life remain unchanged at 16 years and extensions have a maximum of 4 and not 10 years, are somewhat puzzling.
SCIENCE POLICY MANAGEMENT
Authors: Pedersen Anne B.
Published: October 2008

Development of the Pacific region depends upon communication and education of scientific and technological manpower as one aspect of human resource development. Statistical data to guide policy are lacking. Coordinated efforts within the Pacific community are needed to collect data and develop appropriate policies.
FROM PARIS TO NARRANDERA: ADAPTATION IN THE DIFFUSION OF ANTHRAX VACCINATION IN THE AUSTRALIAN PASTORAL INDUSTRY
Authors: Todd Jan
Published: October 2008

In 1881 Louis Pasteur demonstrated to an incredulous world the efficacy of his vaccine for the prevention of the fatal disease anthrax in sheep and cattle. A decade later Pasteur's nephew and assistant, Adrien Loir, was manufacturing the vaccine in Sydney. But although Loir's operations were begun at the behest of local pastoralists, the diffusion of the Pasteur vaccine was not very successful in Australia. Within a few years it was virtually displaced from the market by the modified vaccine produced by two Australian men, John Alexander Gunn and John McGarvie Smith. The process of transfer and diffusion involved in that displacement is the concern of this paper. In particular, it highlights the importance of local adaptation for the successful diffusion of anthrax vaccination in Australia.
THE MANAGEMENT OF SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH
Authors: Landsberg Joe
Published: October 2008

This paper examines the way publicly funded research organisations are managed in terms of the ethos of the scientific staff. Three models for the management of such organisations are considered and the recent management history of CSIRO is examined in relation to these models. The Organisation has changed its management style as result of recent reviews; the consequences of this are considered.
THE MIC PROGRAM AND THE POLITICS OF SCIENCE POLICY
Authors: Ryan Neal
Published: October 2008

The need to develop policies relating to the development of venture capital markets in Australia was reported regularly in the late 1970s and the early 1980s in science and technology policy literature. The Hawke Government's response to this area of market failure was to implement the MIC program. The history of this program indicates that although venture capital has been identified as an area of market failure, the program has been supported in accordance with the political climate prevailing at the time.
THE POLITICS OF HIGH TECHNOLOGY IN AUSTRALIA
Authors: Joseph R.A.
Published: October 2008

The high technology debate in Australia since 1981 is analysed using one of the most prominent features of the debate — he political rhetoric and symbols used in the debate. This form of analysis emphasises both instrumental and expressive political activity. The high technology debate is seen as having a significant expressive component and function. Most of the advocacy for high technology came as a result of institutional pressures and efforts of the Minister for Science and Technology, Barry Jones. High technology became a ‘maverick’ term in political debate but it has now become an accepted part of current economic language. The paper draws a number of conclusions for policy from the analysis.
IMPROVING MANAGERIAL APPROACHES TO INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Authors: Gold Bela
Published: October 2008

Advances in information technology should be viewed by management not only as inherently desirable in themselves, but also as sources of potentially valuable improvements in planning, operations, control and performance evaluation. Hence, it is appropriate that all such proposals should be evaluated in terms of their expected yields of faster, more complete, more accurate and more effectively integrated information flows. In addition, however, primary emphasis should also be given to the magnitude of resulting contributions to the competitiveness, profitability and growth of the firm relative to the time, investments and costs involved.
INFORMATION SERVICES FOR RURAL COMMUNITIES: THE “TELECOTTAGE” PROJECT
Authors: Harrison Steve , Qvortrup Lars
Published: October 2008

The establishment of a network of ‘telecottages’ or community teleservice centres in Scandinavia commenced in 1985. These centres provide public access to computers and a broad range of software, databases, communications, distance education and other services, and are now making an important contribution to economic, social and cultural development, particularly in more isolated rural communities. Similar installations are being planned or contemplated in several European countries (France, Spain, Portugal, Wales and Scotland), in Canada, and in the developing countries of Bhutan, Benin and Sri Lanka. The telecottage concept has appeal for Australia and New Zealand, where rural isolation is relatively great. This paper discusses the rationale and history of the telecottage project, the services provided, achievements to date and future prospects. The relevance of the concept for Australasia is then examined. The material presented here is based on visits by the authors to a number of telecottages in Denmark, and has drawn on findings reported by Qvortrup.
HUMAN QUALITIES NECESSARY FOR INVENTION: INDEPENDENT INVENTORS AND THE STIMULUS OF ADVERSITY
Authors: Macdonald Stuart
Published: October 2008

Inasmuch as the efforts of independent inventors are appreciated at all, it is commonly argued that greater benefit would ensue from their inventions if the inventors possessed a more realistic understanding of the innovative process, and if the world were generally more sympathetic. There is sense in this view, but perhaps some consideration should be given to the impact such changes might have on the essential creativity of the independent inventor. It seems likely that this creativity is in part a product of adversity and might well be extinguished if conditions were made more conducive to the activities of the independent inventor.
INFORMATION DIFFUSION: RECONCILING SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE AND PUBLIC POLICY
Authors: Chapman Ralph
                      J. K.
Published: October 2008

This paper is concerned with the policy-making processes and the nature of the information available to those who participate in them. At a very simple level of concern is the issue of how to define what is a risk to which governments should pay attention in the public interest. For those responsible for making policy decisions there are real dilemmas. The policy process itself is inadequate to deal with the processing of scientific information about risk. A representative parliamentary system is notoriously ill-equipped to cope with a multiplicity of information sources. The question of which particular scientific voice should be regarded as legitimate is problematic. There is no single institutional centre to identify particular problems. It is this latter question that creates the most difficulty for policymakers since they need to base their justification of policy on the most valid of grounds. In the past objective scientific fact has been so regarded. Today there are as many different scientific opinions as there are advisers. Problems are defined and redefined depending on the control of the agenda at any one point in time. Some suggestions are made about how these dilemmas might be addressed.
COMPUTER CRIME: NEW PROBLEM FOR THE INFORMATION SOCIETY
Authors: Forester Tom , Morrison Perry
Published: October 2008

The new information and communication technologies bring many benefits to society, but they also create new social and ethical problems — such as software theft, invasions of privacy, hacking and the creation of viruses. Computer-assisted crime is one of the most serious and its apparent growth in recent years demonstrates clearly how new technologies create new opportunities for criminal activity. The available evidence on the nature and extent of computer crime is reviewed, together with the available data on participation. Techniques for improving computer security are then discussed and the appropriate lessons drawn.
VALUE ADDED SERVICES: APPLICATIONS, ACCEPTABILITY AND POLICIES — THE CASE OF TELECONFERENCING
Authors: Quayle Michael
Published: October 2008

Recent technological developments have fused computer and telecommunications technologies together creating the scope for a wider and more diversified array of communication services. The new services rising out of this integration are called value-added services (VAS) and are offered on value-added networks (VAN). One such new offering is teleconferencing which involves multipoint simultaneous or store and forward connect facilities using audio, video, computer or graphic support systems. This paper reports on some results collected from a recent study on the applications and acceptability of teleconferencing as a new value-added service. It compares views recently collected from the United States and explores the actors that will determine acceptability and take-up of the new service offering. Some attention is also paid to new regulator provisions and pricing practices for the VAS and contends that teleconferencing may well be a test case to determine the boundary between old and new technologies.
THE LOW DOWN ON HIGH TECH DOWN UNDER, OR THE PLAIN PERSON'S GUIDE TO THE MULTIFUNCTION POLIS
Authors: Inkster Ian
Published: October 2008

This paper examines conditions of Australian acceptance for the multifunction polis (MFP). A specific physical location has taken the place of the earlier network concept. Other characteristics are: the MFP will be an entrepŏt; it will export information, produce and institutional modes; and it must serve as an environmental tariff wall. For Japan the MFP can contribute to technological ‘catch-up’ and serve the dual function of improving Japan's international and cultural image as well as focussing information transfer to Japan. For Australia the MFP can facilitate industrial restructuring by providing an innovating institutional environment for manufacturing innovation and production, with a possible increase in foreign investment and venture capital. This restructuring link is problematic due to external uncertainties. Key issues are urban location, internationalisation, the centrality of high-tech, contracted employment, internal organization, the position in the technological system, and the decision making process.
CURRENT TRENDS IN RESEARCH POLICY
Authors: Phillips David , Vervoorn Aat
Published: October 2008

The major research policy issues being addressed in Australian higher education arise from problems common to all developed countries and cannot be understood purely in terms of local circumstances. In the immediate future there is likely to be more rather than less emphasis on the competitive allocation of resources, selectivity and concentration in funding, and the setting of research priorities. These trends, together with growth in postgraduate research training, will encourage movement towards a method of funding higher education in which the research and research training functions of institutions are more explicitly identified and there is greater reliance on targeted research funding.
THE ACCORD AND PRODUCTIVITY IN THE AUSTRALIAN MANUFACTURING SECTOR
Authors: Burgess John
Published: October 2008

Productivity enhancement is at the forefront of the current programmes of microeconomic reform and award restructuring. However, the combination of the effects of the Accord, high real interest rates and restrictive demand management policies are constraining labour productivity growth. Technical progress in the Accord period has been largely capital augmenting, a reversal of earlier trends. The implication is that productivity growth is likely to be low in the future despite the emphasis of current supply side policy measures.
FITTING LAW TO INNOVATION POLICY
Authors: Arup C.J.
Published: October 2008

Law plays an important part in innovation policy. It is represented in a wide range of relevant policies such as intellectual property, trade and competition, industry assistance and government enterprise policy. Law acts however both as an instrument of government policy and as a check on that policy. These two sides to law can be illustrated by the competition between two basic legal approaches to policy implementation, the bureaucratic-legal approach and the purposive action approach. The paper traces recent Australian developments in innovation law and identifies the tension in recent policy experience between the two approaches.
INTERNATIONAL JOINT VENTURES AND TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER: SOME ECONOMIC ISSUES
Authors: Tisdell Clem
Published: October 2008

The paper outlines the benefits and drawbacks to domestic enterprises and to a country of international joint business ventures both at home and abroad. It takes account of such factors as transfer of (and failure to transfer) technology and knowhow, access to markets, cost considerations, provision of capital and foreign exchange and the possibility of continuing dependence on joint-ventures and foreign knowhow. Alternatives to joint ventures, such as purchase of knowhow, solely foreign-owned enterprises, franchising and symbiotic co-operation between legally independent firms, are also considered as means of transfer of knowhow. The impact of profit distribution between partners in a joint venture on knowledge transfer and collective returns is considered from a different viewpoint from that normally considered in the literature. Practical problems, such as the search for a suitable business partner and the problem of detecting and revealing anti-social behaviourby a partner, are raised.
CHANGING MARKETS IN FINANCIAL SERVICES OPPORTUNITIES AND HAZARDS FOR CONSUMERS
Authors: Mitchell Jeremy
Published: October 2008

Bad debts and non-performing loans are sending shock waves round the world financial system. Simultaneously, banks and other financial institutions are having to grapple with changes induced by the internationalisation of financial markets, deregulation and technological innovation. This situation presents consumers with new opportunities in the form of a wider choice of financial institutions and products and — in theory — keener price competition. However, consumers also face new hazards, in the form of increased risk of failure of financial institutions, changes in pricing policy, aggressive marketing methods and inadequate bargaining power. The agenda of consumer issues which need to be addressed by governments and consumer organisations include problems of access, choice, information, safety and redress.
PAPUA NEW GUINEA'S EXPORT-CROP RESEARCH: PAST RETURNS AND EXPECTED ECONOMIC EFFECTS
Authors: Antony George , Parton Kevin A.
Published: October 2008

The project described in the paper is the first attempt to provide an economic evaluation of export-crop research in PNG. The institutional framework is outlined to provide a context for understanding the methods used. Past performance of two agricultural research projects was assessed and then eleven ex ante research evaluations were performed. After reviewing the overall results, suggestions are made for institutionalising research evaluation procedures at various levels of the public administration system.
KNOWLEDGE AS CAPITAL: INTEGRATED QUALITY MANAGEMENT
Authors: Zeleny Milan
Published: October 2008

Quality of any product or service depends on the quality of the underlying process of its design, production and delivery. Quality, as customer-defined fitness for use, is to be pulled in by an integrated (and empowered) customer, rather than pushed out by a survey data-saturated (informated) producer. There are two essential ways of approaching such an objective of continuous quality improvement. The second tries to exploit the customer separation from the production process (customer is the object of production), while the other is based on direct customer integration into the production process (customer becomes also the subject of production — the prosumer) and relies more on monitoring the customer's actual behaviour. This paper describes and demonstrates the latter approach, integrated process management (IPM), as a more reliable, more flexible and globally more desirable system of customer-pulled quality delivery. Transnational business ecosystems require new ways of management, more attuned to the upcoming era of knowledge, integration and company-environment ecological interpenetration. These new ways of management are naturally related to the older management wisdom and experience of both Western Europe and United States before World War II, later abandoned by the West, but perpetuated and enhanced by Japan of today. As P.F. Drucker argues, the next step in the use of knowledge, in full swing since 1970, applies analysis and system to the productive process itself.
SOCIAL ASPECTS OF TELEPHONE USE IN AUSTRALIA
Authors: Noble Grant
Published: October 2008

A review of the social aspects of domestic telephone use in Australia indicates that the area remains in its infancy, but has revealed a general positive attitude toward the telephone and some behavioural trends in Australian domestic telephone users. For example, the home telephone is used more for intrinsic reasons than instrumental ones; females generally make and receive more calls from family and friends rather than males; social extroverts use the domestic telephone most often; verbalisers are called more than visualisers; a majority feel compelled to answer a ringing telephone at home and that compulsion accompanied by possession of a telephone at work best discriminates between high and low instrumental users; many variables distinguish between heavy and light intrinsic use including the use of the telephone to contact family as well as a perception that the telephone makes life more hectic.
TRADITIONAL AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY POLICY: WHAT WENT WRONG
Authors: Stewart Jenny
Published: October 2008

Australian manufacturing industry is generally considered to be uncompetitive because of its years of protection from imports. On the other hand, protectionist strategies in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan appear to have yielded much more successful results. The paper investigates the nature of these strategies, distinguishing between their purpose, in terms of the assurance afforded investment, and their economic effect. It is argued that the Asian countries successfully nurtured infant industries, in contrast to Australia, by means of their emphasis on selectivity, industry structure and direction-setting.
CAPTURING REGIONAL BENEFITS FROM SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY: THE QUESTION OF REGIONAL APPROPRIABILITY
Authors: Jevons Fred , Saupin Marc
Published: October 2008

The term ‘appropriability’ usually refers to the ability of a business entity to capture benefits from its investment in science and technology. In this paper it is suggested that governments should focus on regional appropriability, the ability of the region they govern to capture benefits from science and technology. Regional appropriability, although in one sense a matter of common knowledge, has not been extensively discussed in the scholarly literature. This paper suggests four factors which may be important in determining whether benefits can be captured by a region. They are, first, local manufacturing; second, intellectual property protection; third, the relatively immobile nature of a broadly skilled workforce; and fourth, “contexted technology”, that is, technology which links into existing industrial strengths.
ROAD TRANSPORT INFORMATICS: CHALLENGING THE FREEDOM OF THE ROADS?
Authors: Scott Pam
Published: October 2008

The latest workers to be affected by new computer and communication technologies are those whose workplace is the road — truck drivers, bus and taxi drivers, travelling salespeople, and even police and emergency vehicle drivers. Automatic vehicle identification (AVI) and monitoring (AVM) technologies make it possible to monitor the movements of individual vehicles, potentially threatening the freedom of those using the road, both literally (in road pricing schemes) and figuratively (through surveillance). Before these technologies become widely adopted, it is important that the social implications are debated and understood, and that safeguards to protect privacy and prevent exploitation are designed along with the technology.