ABSTRACT
The purpose of this chapter is to examine the problems of and prospects for developing countries to become technologically and industrially competitive in the current period of global capitalism. One economic reality in our globalizing world is that this “development” hinges on the international competitiveness of nations and regions. International competitiveness has been defined as: “The degree to which a nation can . . . produce goods and services that meet the test of international markets while simultaneously maintaining and expanding the real income of its citizens” (Hart 1992: 5). Thus, economic development involves production and trade. However, for production and trade to qualify as “development” and not simply capitalism, it must be beneficial to a nation’s citizens.
