The Role of Acquisition of Foreign Technology in Taiwanese Growth

This article argues that one source of Taiwan's exceptionally rapid growth rate in value added per worker in manufacturing was its ability to tap the accumulated technology of more advanced industrial nations. The impact of technology embodied in new equipment is quantified. The role of knowledge transfers from purchasers of exports, consultants, technology licensing agreements, returning Taiwanese nationals educated abroad and foreign direct investment is documented. It is argued that considerable local effort was expended to assimilate successfully the transferred technology.