ABSTRACT
The fact that technology — or interpreted dynamically, innovation — has become a magic word, has important reasons related to the outlook on international trade. The amount of technology embodied in a machine can be measured by the ratio of the value of the machine to the weight of the machine. Inter-firm co-operation agreements multiplied as a result, being aimed primarily at increasing both the trade in convertible goods and the proportion of goods manufactured in high technology sectors, and thus improving the commodity structure and the adaptability of the socialist partners. The possible role for joint ventures is connected to the outward-looking perspective of a host country. In East-West trade, however, there are manifold differences in favour of the Western countries. Different terminologies have been used to depict these intergovernmental agreements — scientific, technical, technological, development — depending on what the co-operation referred to.
