Flexible Automation and Location of Production in Developing Countries

Ludovico Alcorta
Additional contact information
Ludovico Alcorta: United Nations University, Institute for New Technologies

No 1998-05, UNU-INTECH Discussion Paper Series from United Nations University - INTECH

Abstract: This paper analyses and assesses the potential impact of microelectronics-based forms of flexible automation (FA) on the location of industrial production in developing countries. It suggests that for developing countries as a whole the diffusion of FA does not favor the establishment of a local engineering industry. The converging production and cost conditions worldwide, the higher optimal scale plants and the growing infrastructure requirements arising out of FA demand cost reducing, quality enhancing, learning, investment, research and development, marketing and increasing market share efforts beyond most local firms' possibilities. Yet, possibilities for location in specific countries may arise out the skill and possibly capital saving characteristics of the new technologies, the high labor costs of simple assembly processes in developed countries, the available technical and financial capability of very large domestic firms, the size of the respective market and the capacity of each country to introduce creative and innovative policies.

Keywords: Automation; Location of Industry; Developing Countries (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 1998
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.merit.unu.edu/publications/discussion-papers/9805.pdf (application/pdf)
Our link check indicates that this URL is bad, the error code is: 404 Not Found (https://www.merit.unu.edu/publications/discussion-papers/9805.pdf [301 Moved Permanently]--> https://unu.edu/merit-domain-redirect/publications/discussion-papers/9805.pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:unm:unuint:199805

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in UNU-INTECH Discussion Paper Series from United Nations University - INTECH Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Ad Notten ( this e-mail address is bad, please contact ).