Acquisition of Technological Capability in Small Firms in Developing Countries

An authoritative examination of how small firms in developing countries acquire technological capability - the knowledge and skills required to operate technology effectively and to adapt it to local conditions. It fills a gap in the established literature on technological capability, which has neglected the small-scale sector in spite of the important role it plays in employment generation. The author develops a methodology for a quantitative assessment of the learning process, using case material from the small-scale capital goods sector in Pakistan's Punjab Province.

HENNY ROMIJN is Senior Research Officer at Queen Elizabeth House, University of Oxford, and the Development Research Institute, Tilburg University, Netherlands. Her work has focused on industrialization, technological development and small enterprise development. She has worked in various small enterprise promotion projects in East Africa, South Asia and Southeast Asia of the International Labour Organization. She is co-author of Small-scale Production: Strategies for Industrial Restructuring.