Technology choice, industrialisation and development experiences in Tanzania
Title:
Technology choice, industrialisation and development experiences in Tanzania
Author:
Perkins, F. C.
Appeared in:
The journal of development studies
Paging:
Volume 19 (1983) nr. 2 pages 213-243
Year:
1983-01
Contents:
This paper studies the types of technologies which have been selected by private and public enterprises in ten major Tanzanian industries, to determine their technical and economic efficiency, the extent to which they are appropriate to the country's factor endowments and their contribution to Tanzania's articulated economic and social goals. It was found that firms using technically and economically efficient, labour-intensive, simple and often small-scale technologies accounted for a large proportion of the output and employment in most of these industries. Despite the availability of such technologies, however, the publicly-owned enterprises had in most cases chosen large-scale, capital-intensive and usually technically and economically inferior technologies. Some of the major reasons for these apparently irrational choices are examined, including the Government's budgetary planning and foreign aid management processes.
Journal description