Knowledge intensification in resource-based economies

Abstract

This chapter is divided into seven sections that describes, summarizes and contextualizes the book. The next section introduces the problems of resource-based development, briefly surveying the relevant theoretical literature in the light of selected insights of the economic history of resource-based economies. The third section presents data demonstrating that the four economies studied here - Brazil, Costa Rica, Peru and South Africa - have had problems in reconciling resource exploitation with more knowledge-intensive, higher-growth activities. Together, these two sections thus establish the relevance of this kind of research. The fourth section discusses key tenets of technological learning, the role of foreign technology, linkages and interactions, and industrial policy which inform the analysis. The fifth section introduce five instance of technological learning from the four countries and presents the methodology. The analysis follows in the sixth section, and the seventh section concludes with suggestions for further research.