ABSTRACT
The manufacturing sector is both a major producer and user of new technology. Product innovations in the manufacturing sector are associated with changes in the structure of manufacturing activity that involve a greater emphasis on medium-high and high technology sectors, and include innovations such as wireless telecommunications (mobile telephony) and the development of new drugs in the pharmaceutical sector. These innovations have resulted in a shift away from low technology manufacturing towards medium-high and high technology sectors such as computer, telecommunications equipment and pharmaceuticals. As we discuss later in the book, there is significant cross-nation variation in the extent to which nations are moving into these growing areas of manufacturing, and the national systems of innovation perspective provides some explanation for the extent to which nations are participating in these knowledge-intensive sectors of manufacturing.
