Publication:
Which Countries are Better Prepared to Compete Globally in the Disruptive Technology Age?: A Rapid, Forward-Looking Analysis of Countries' Share of the Global Private Sector

Loading...
Thumbnail Image
Files in English
English PDF (7.87 MB)
71,545 downloads
English Text (33.98 KB)
43 downloads
Published
2018-10-23
ISSN
Date
2018-10-29
Editor(s)
Abstract
This note provides a rapid, forward-looking analysis of countries’ share of the global private sector. By using technology-enabled Unicorns as a leading indicator of the future’s global private sector, which is dominated by a technology platform business model of zero marginal costs and winner-takes-all dynamics, this analysis provides an indication of relative gains and losses of countries in the transition to a technology-driven new economy. The results are tested by comparing the gross domestic product (GDP) growth of countries and their relative position in this transition, which is then measured using a forward-looking approach. This analysis is a first approximation toward a predictive assessment and requires further research. However, the results provided in this note can help policy makers consider and assess new factors to deal with the uncertainties of disruptive technologies in their economies.
Link to Data Set
Citation
Mulas, Victor. 2018. Which Countries are Better Prepared to Compete Globally in the Disruptive Technology Age?: A Rapid, Forward-Looking Analysis of Countries' Share of the Global Private Sector. Finance, Competitiveness and Innovation in Focus;. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/30615 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.
Digital Object Identifier
Associated URLs
Associated content
Report Series
Other publications in this report series
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue

Related items

Showing items related by metadata.

  • Publication
    Global Value Chains in the Electronics Industry : Was the Crisis a Window of Opportunity for Developing Countries?
    (2010-09-01) Sturgeon, Timothy J.; Kawakami, Momoko
    This paper presents evidence of the importance of electronics global value chains (GVCs) in the global economy, and discusses the effects of the recent economic crisis on the industry. The analysis focuses on how information is exchanged and introduces the concept of "value chain modularity." The authors identify three key firm level actors -- lead firms, contract manufacturers, and platform leaders -- and discuss their development, or "co-evolution" in the context of global integration. Company, cluster, and country case studies are then presented to illustrate how supplier capabilities in various places have developed in the context of electronics global value chains. The findings identify some of the persistent limits to upgrading experienced by even the most successful firms in the developing world. Four models used by developing country firms to overcome these limitations are presented: (1) global expansion though acquisition of declining brands (emerging multinationals); (2) separation of branded product divisions from contract manufacturing (original design manufacturing (ODM) spinoffs); (3) successful mixing of contract manufacturing and branded products (platform brands) for contractors with customers not in the electronic hardware business; and (4) the founding of factory-less product firms that rely on global value chains for a range of inputs, including production (emerging factory-less start-ups).
  • Publication
    Technology Adoption and the Investment Climate : Firm-Level Evidence for Eastern Europe and Central Asia
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2008-09) Correa, Paulo G.; Fernandes, Ana M.; Uregian, Chris J.
    The international diffusion of technology presents an opportunity for developing economies distant from the world technological frontier to reduce their income gap relative to advanced economies. It is therefore crucial to understand why, when faced with similar technological alternatives different firms in different countries choose to adopt different vintages of capital. This paper examines technology adoption across firms in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. The findings show that access to complementary inputs - managerial capacity, skilled labor, finance, and good infrastructure - and to international knowledge - through foreign direct investment or exports - is an important correlate of technology adoption. The link between market incentives and technology adoption is more nuanced. Although consumer pressure results in technology adoption, competitor pressure does not, suggesting that only firms with rents are able to adopt technology given substantial resource constraints. Privatized firms exhibit better technology adoption outcomes but only when a clear private owner with a profit incentive is present. Better governance is associated with technology adoption only in the countries that joined the European Union in 2004. Future increases in technology adoption by firms in the region will require complementary reforms of the investment climate.
  • Publication
    Boosting Tech Innovation Ecosystems in Cities
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2015-11-01) Mulas, Victor; Minges, Michael; Applebaum, Hallie
    Cities are emerging as hubs of technological innovation. This is characterized by an ongoing shift from technology parks in suburban areas, to entrepreneurial activity within cities. There is a global trend of startups in cities like Berlin, Buenos Aires, Mumbai and Madrid. The rise of technology startups in cities is leading to new sources of employment and economic growth, by creation of new businesses and employment categories. Traditional manufacturing and routine cognitive skills jobs are being eroded, and the creation of new sources of employment and growth is vital to maintain competitiveness, reduce poverty, and increase shared prosperity. The growth of tech innovation and entrepreneurship is not equal in all cities. Some cities experience higher, faster, and more sustainable growth than others. This paper discusses research on what factors make tech innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystems grow faster and larger in some cities. The findings point out that the social dimension, or the interpersonal connections and communities, are critical for the growth and sustainability of the ecosystem; and, that networking assets (defined as community building events, skill training events, collaboration spaces, and networking of mentors) are central to this social dimension. This paper includes a) proposed framework for urban technology innovation ecosystems based on this findings; b) testing of the framework in New York, and; c) policy implications of this findings.
  • Publication
    Global Integration and Technology Transfer
    (Washington, DC: World Bank and Palgrave Macmillan, 2006) Hoekman, Bernard; Javorcik, Beata Smarzynska
    This volume presents a rich set of analyses exploring how trade and foreign direct investment (FDI) can help increase economic growth by allowing firms to tap into and benefit from the global pool of knowledge. The chapters demonstrate that both obtaining access to foreign markets and opening their own economies to trade and FDI are crucial to promoting economic growth in developing countries, because they stimulate international technology diffusion. The volume also identifies government policies that can facilitate technology transfer and its absorption in the developing world.
  • Publication
    Fostering Entrepreneurship in Azerbaijan
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2013-09-04) Kuriakose, Smita; Kuriakose, Smita
    A dynamic and vibrant private sector is crucial to economic growth, with firms making new investments, creating jobs, improving productivity, and promoting growth. Entrepreneurial activity is pivotal to the continued dynamism of the private sector, as the generation of new businesses fosters competition and economic growth. This is particularly relevant for Azerbaijan, whose government faces a central challenge to create conditions that will facilitate growth in nonoil tradable sectors. The core objectives of Azerbaijan's development strategy are to diversify the economy away from the oil sector and sustain high employment and growth. Encouraging high-growth entrepreneurship can help Azerbaijan achieve these goals as it moves toward new opportunities in value added and tradable sectors. This study shows that high-growth entrepreneurialism is low in Azerbaijan and that innovative activity among firms is very low. Several factors hinder business growth and entrepreneurship: lack of competition, especially among smaller firms; financial systems that are not conducive to business development. Companies cite high interest rates and risk-averse lending policies as substantial hindrances to expansion. In addition, risk capital is in short supply; and lack of industry-relevant skills. The government could play an important role by removing bottlenecks that impede entrepreneurialism in the general business environment as well as by designing new financial policy instruments that foster entrepreneurship and innovation. In doing so, the government needs to exercise care that the design and management of these instruments prevent capture or corruption and promote efficiency. Lack of competition is an issue in Azerbaijan, particularly for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), which face uneven treatment within the enterprise sector.

Users also downloaded

Showing related downloaded files

  • Publication
    Compendium of International and National Legal Frameworks on Sexual Harassment in the Workplace
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2019-12) World Bank
    Sexual Harassment in the Workplace (SHWP) is a universal and widespread phenomenon that affects millions of women of all social strata worldwide. It is an endemic issue that has gained increased visibility and attention since the beginning of the “#MeToo” movement. In this Compendium on International and National Legal Frameworks on Sexual Harassment in the Workplace (the “Compendium”), SHWP is understood as a gender-specific form of violence, commonly directed against women and occurring in employment or the workplace. It includes requests for sexual favors, unwelcome sexual advances or other sexual conduct, whether physical or verbal, which involves a “quid pro quo” aspect (e.g. request for sexual favors used to make employment decisions) and/or creates an intimidating, hostile, toxic, humiliating or offensive working environment. As one of the pervasive expressions of gender-based violence, it reflects discriminatory social norms, stereotypes, impunity and gender inequality. SHWP is viewed as a development challenge and has high economic and social costs. Despite its serious implications for women, employers and society at large, the behavior is widely accepted and minimized. The Compendium provides a survey of the key international and regional instruments as well as national legislation as they relate to SHWP.
  • Publication
    Digital Africa
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2023-03-13) Begazo, Tania; Dutz, Mark Andrew; Blimpo, Moussa
    All African countries need better and more jobs for their growing populations. "Digital Africa: Technological Transformation for Jobs" shows that broader use of productivity-enhancing, digital technologies by enterprises and households is imperative to generate such jobs, including for lower-skilled people. At the same time, it can support not only countries’ short-term objective of postpandemic economic recovery but also their vision of economic transformation with more inclusive growth. These outcomes are not automatic, however. Mobile internet availability has increased throughout the continent in recent years, but Africa’s uptake gap is the highest in the world. Areas with at least 3G mobile internet service now cover 84 percent of Africa’s population, but only 22 percent uses such services. And the average African business lags in the use of smartphones and computers as well as more sophisticated digital technologies that catalyze further productivity gains. Two issues explain the usage gap: affordability of these new technologies and willingness to use them. For the 40 percent of Africans below the extreme poverty line, mobile data plans alone would cost one-third of their incomes—in addition to the price of access devices, apps, and electricity. Data plans for small- and medium-size businesses are also more expensive than in other regions. Moreover, shortcomings in the quality of internet services—and in the supply of attractive, skills-appropriate apps that promote entrepreneurship and raise earnings—dampen people’s willingness to use them. For those countries already using these technologies, the development payoffs are significant. New empirical studies for this report add to the rapidly growing evidence that mobile internet availability directly raises enterprise productivity, increases jobs, and reduces poverty throughout Africa. To realize these and other benefits more widely, Africa’s countries must implement complementary and mutually reinforcing policies to strengthen both consumers’ ability to pay and willingness to use digital technologies. These interventions must prioritize productive use to generate large numbers of inclusive jobs in a region poised to benefit from a massive, youthful workforce—one projected to become the world’s largest by the end of this century.
  • Publication
    Classroom Assessment to Support Foundational Literacy
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-03-21) Luna-Bazaldua, Diego; Levin, Victoria; Liberman, Julia; Gala, Priyal Mukesh
    This document focuses primarily on how classroom assessment activities can measure students’ literacy skills as they progress along a learning trajectory towards reading fluently and with comprehension by the end of primary school grades. The document addresses considerations regarding the design and implementation of early grade reading classroom assessment, provides examples of assessment activities from a variety of countries and contexts, and discusses the importance of incorporating classroom assessment practices into teacher training and professional development opportunities for teachers. The structure of the document is as follows. The first section presents definitions and addresses basic questions on classroom assessment. Section 2 covers the intersection between assessment and early grade reading by discussing how learning assessment can measure early grade reading skills following the reading learning trajectory. Section 3 compares some of the most common early grade literacy assessment tools with respect to the early grade reading skills and developmental phases. Section 4 of the document addresses teacher training considerations in developing, scoring, and using early grade reading assessment. Additional issues in assessing reading skills in the classroom and using assessment results to improve teaching and learning are reviewed in section 5. Throughout the document, country cases are presented to demonstrate how assessment activities can be implemented in the classroom in different contexts.
  • Publication
    World Development Report 2006
    (Washington, DC, 2005) World Bank
    This year’s Word Development Report (WDR), the twenty-eighth, looks at the role of equity in the development process. It defines equity in terms of two basic principles. The first is equal opportunities: that a person’s chances in life should be determined by his or her talents and efforts, rather than by pre-determined circumstances such as race, gender, social or family background. The second principle is the avoidance of extreme deprivation in outcomes, particularly in health, education and consumption levels. This principle thus includes the objective of poverty reduction. The report’s main message is that, in the long run, the pursuit of equity and the pursuit of economic prosperity are complementary. In addition to detailed chapters exploring these and related issues, the Report contains selected data from the World Development Indicators 2005‹an appendix of economic and social data for over 200 countries. This Report offers practical insights for policymakers, executives, scholars, and all those with an interest in economic development.
  • Publication
    Doing Business 2014 : Understanding Regulations for Small and Medium-Size Enterprises
    (Washington, DC: World Bank Group, 2013-10-28) World Bank; International Finance Corporation
    Eleventh in a series of annual reports comparing business regulation in 185 economies, Doing Business 2014 measures regulations affecting 11 areas of everyday business activity: Starting a business, Dealing with construction permits, Getting electricity, Registering property, Getting credit, Protecting investors, Paying taxes, Trading across borders, Enforcing contracts, Closing a business, Employing workers. The report updates all indicators as of June 1, 2013, ranks economies on their overall “ease of doing business”, and analyzes reforms to business regulation – identifying which economies are strengthening their business environment the most. The Doing Business reports illustrate how reforms in business regulations are being used to analyze economic outcomes for domestic entrepreneurs and for the wider economy. Doing Business is a flagship product by the World Bank and IFC that garners worldwide attention on regulatory barriers to entrepreneurship. More than 60 economies use the Doing Business indicators to shape reform agendas and monitor improvements on the ground. In addition, the Doing Business data has generated over 870 articles in peer-reviewed academic journals since its inception.