Publication: Sub-Saharan Africa : Assessing Technological Capabilities and Firm Productivity
Date
1996-03
ISSN
Published
1996-03
Author(s)
World Bank
Abstract
Technological capabilities are at the
center of the new theories of economic growth which focus on
technology and human capital as engines of growth. Recent
developments in this literature suggest that long-run
economic growth, as seen most recently in East Asia,
reflects sustained increases in firm productivity stemming
from the continuous accumulation of technological
capabilities. The study, technological capabilities and
learning in African enterprises, reports on one of the first
systematic attempts to assess technological capabilities and
firm productivity in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). The study
utilizes primary data from two surveys of manufacturing
firms in each of three representative countries, Ghana,
Kenya and Zimbabwe, all countries currently undergoing
extensive structural reforms. As a group, these countries
span the diversity of per capita incomes and industrial
development patterns of the Africa region. The study
undertakes a comprehensive analysis of technological
capabilities and manufacturing productivity in these
countries, focusing on a number of broad issues related to
the patterns and determinants of manufacturing productivity,
the levels of endowment of technological capabilities, the
specific nature of technological efforts being undertaken by
manufacturing firms, and the constraints they face in
enhancing such endeavors. The objective of the investigation
is to gain a better understanding of the technological
problems facing African enterprises, large and small, and to
help the World Bank and other development agencies design
more effective assistance programs to accelerate the supply
response to policy reforms.
Citation
“World Bank. 1996. Sub-Saharan Africa : Assessing Technological Capabilities and Firm Productivity. Africa Region Findings & Good Practice Infobriefs; No. 58. © Washington, DC. http://openknowledge.worldbank.org/entities/publication/9643e847-4eb1-5471-80f6-5e7696ff1c35 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”