ABSTRACT
It is obvious that the process of technological diffusion has to be studied in terms of two stages: the spread of technology between countries and its spread within a country. The existence of certain political requirements for successful industrial growth reminds us that to understand the diffusion process we must regard it as a cultural, social, political and psychological process, as well as an imitation of artifacts. The process of developing a modern technology and applying it to economic production has a distinctive pattern of its own, involving not only scientific discovery and invention, but also innovation, technical improvement and the spread of the innovation through extensive imitation. Gerschenkron argues that the existence of certain preconditions is for the most part neither necessary nor sufficient for successful economic growth. It has been the purpose of this chapter to suggest a framework within which to analyse the spread of modern industrial technology.
