ABSTRACT
Technology has been made both goddess and scapegoat of a thousand things. No one can deny technology is certainly a very important factor in economic development, international trade or military strength. There certainly is a high correlation between economic development and investment in scientific and technological research and development activities. It seems valid to ask whether the relation between the two is causal and, if so, the direction of causality. The growth of world industry has been accompanied since the 1940s by a steady and important structural change, both in the kind of products manufactured and in the countries manufacturing them. During the last 20 years the two manufacturing groups which have shown a more dynamic growth of value added are chemicals and metal products and machinery, both characterized by a relatively high technology in the production processes and a high proportion of skilled labor force.
