Jeffrey James – författare

This book is the outcome of a Development Studies Association Workshop on Technology that we convened in Queen Elizabeth House in March 1980. In the 1960s and 1970s most research on technology in poor countries was directed at the question of the labour or capital intensity of production technique (sometimes described as the 'neo-classical' question). The collection of essays raises questions as much as it provides answers: but in so doing it provides a comprehensive introduction to the major new topics which are of substantial concern to those working on issues of technology and development.

This book is the outcome of a Development Studies Association Workshop on Technology that we convened in Queen Elizabeth House in March 1980. In the 1960s and 1970s most research on technology in poor countries was directed at the question of the labour or capital intensity of production technique (sometimes described as the 'neo-classical' question). The collection of essays raises questions as much as it provides answers: but in so doing it provides a comprehensive introduction to the major new topics which are of substantial concern to those working on issues of technology and development.

An extensive literature has demonstrated that technologies in sub-Saharan Africa are largely inappropriate: that is, that they are typically capital- and import-intensive rather than labour- and local input-intensive. These technologies have created a pattern of development that is highly unequal, with widespread unemployment and under-employment. In this literature, however, relatively little attention has been paid to the institutions that govern the generation, adoption and use of technology.This book draws on historical analysis and case studies to evaluate how institutions in different countries, including those in Africa itself, generate technologies that vary in their characteristics and suitability for the region. Through these case studies, insight is gained into the characteristics of ‘appropriate’ institutions that might underlie a more balanced pattern of technology and development than currently exists. The findings of the book clearly confirm a major tenet of institutionalist theory: namely, that institutions developed in one set of circumstances are unlikely to be appropriate to conditions in a markedly different set.This book will be of interest to economists, social historians and anyone with an interest in modern African development.

The current growth path in sub-Saharan Africa is not following the Lewis model where labour moves from low-productivity agriculture to higher productivity manufacturing. Instead, it is moving directly to inappropriate (import and labour-saving) methods. This book seeks to show how this distorted growth process leaves out the major resource of these countries – labour – and ends up creating unstable employment and underemployment, leading to inequality and poverty. In this way it demonstrates how the entire growth process may be rendered unstable and unsustainable.Sustainable Growth in the African Economy considers whether the relatively rapid growth of recent years can be maintained or improved upon, with a focus on the process of industrialisation. Basing itself on a well-known dual-economy model, the proposed book focuses on several major problems of industrialisation, which has long been seen as the means of structural change in an economy which begins from a low income level. The book considers how the future trajectory of sub-Saharan Africa compares to recent success stories on other continents, and explains how factors such as rapid population growth and capital and import-intensive technology in manufacturing could foreshadow future social and political problems. This book will be essential reading to students and policymakers who are concerned with the existing pattern of African growth.

Attempts to bring the benefits of information technology in the form of the internet to developing countries have, to date, foundered on the belief that this requires the beneficiaries to access the technology directly. As a result, the perceived huge benefits of such an enterprise have often failed to materialise.This original contribution to the debate on developing countries and IT suggests that the benefits of the internet can be passed on via an intermediary. That is, what matters is not the internet itself, rather its ability to provide information that can be made relevant and useful locally. Intermediaries are arguably more likely to provide such information and hence more likely to promote what Amartya Sen called individual 'functionings', for example the ability to be free of illness.Jeffrey James is an impressive servant to the discipline of development studies, here he brings together previously fragmented literatures to break new ground in internet intermediation. Information Technology and Development will interest development economists and practitioners in equal amounts.

Attempts to bring the benefits of information technology in the form of the internet to developing countries have, to date, foundered on the belief that this requires the beneficiaries to access the technology directly. As a result, the perceived huge benefits of such an enterprise have often failed to materialise.This original contribution to the debate on developing countries and IT suggests that the benefits of the internet can be passed on via an intermediary. That is, what matters is not the internet itself, rather its ability to provide information that can be made relevant and useful locally. Intermediaries are arguably more likely to provide such information and hence more likely to promote what Amartya Sen called individual 'functionings', for example the ability to be free of illness.Jeffrey James is an impressive servant to the discipline of development studies, here he brings together previously fragmented literatures to break new ground in internet intermediation. Information Technology and Development will interest development economists and practitioners in equal amounts.

Jeffrey James is one of the relatively few academics to have systematically taken on the topic of IT and development. In this timely book he undertakes a methodological critique of prominent topics in the debate.Challenging the existing literature by international and governmental institutions, the book looks not only at the digital divide but also at issues such as digital preparedness, leapfrogging and low-cost computers. James also raises important issues which have been largely neglected in the literature, such as the implications for poverty in developing countries and the macroeconomics of mobile phones.The book argues that benefits from IT are captured in a different form in developing as opposed to developed countries. In the latter, gains come from technology ownership and use, whereas in the former, benefits cannot be captured as much in this way because ownership is more limited. Interestingly, the author shows that developing countries have responded to this distinction with a series of local innovations which are often low-cost and pro-poor. This finding contradicts the widely held view that poor countries are unable to generate major innovations within their own borders.Accessible and clearly written, this book will be of great interest to scholars of development economics and development studies, and is relevant to both policy-makers and academics.

First published in 1989, The Technological Behaviour of Public Enterprises in Developing Countries presents essays based on original research work conducted for the International Labour Office, to employ a wide variety of approaches and methodologies to analyse the technological choices made by public enterprises in Tanzania, India, Argentina, and Brazil. These empirical studies provide rich and detailed case-study material on key issues such as the choice of technology and the acquisition of advanced technological capabilities. The significance of the research findings in these areas and their policy implications are described in an introductory chapter, and the volume as a whole is accessible and relevant to policy makers and academics who are concerned with industrial development in the developing world.

First published in 1989, The Technological Behaviour of Public Enterprises in Developing Countries presents essays based on original research work conducted for the International Labour Office, to employ a wide variety of approaches and methodologies to analyse the technological choices made by public enterprises in Tanzania, India, Argentina, and Brazil. These empirical studies provide rich and detailed case-study material on key issues such as the choice of technology and the acquisition of advanced technological capabilities. The significance of the research findings in these areas and their policy implications are described in an introductory chapter, and the volume as a whole is accessible and relevant to policy makers and academics who are concerned with industrial development in the developing world.

With our modern world relying more and more on internet-based technologies, this timely book takes a renewed look at the ever-increasing digital divide between developing and more technologically advanced countries and the resulting impacts on achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).Jeffrey James conducts a methodological and conceptual review of the patterns and shortfalls arising from the technological divide between countries, recommending a more proactive response for countries that are struggling to minimise the gap. He juxtaposes the current usage of technology coupled with the prohibitive cost of accessing the internet in the Global South against the cost of living in poverty, the lack of literacy, and learned digital skills. The book addresses these key issues and investigates the current gender disparity, offering solutions for implementing low-cost policies such as the recent successful launch of the inexpensive JioPhone handset.Learning, Digital Skills, and the Global South is an excellent resource for scholars of development economics, innovation economics and information technology. It is also an invigorating read for policy makers in developing countries to make future decisions drawing on a wider variety of analytical frameworks and methods than is usually the case.

An extensive literature has demonstrated that technologies in sub-Saharan Africa are largely inappropriate: that is, that they are typically capital- and import-intensive rather than labour- and local input-intensive. These technologies have created a pattern of development that is highly unequal, with widespread unemployment and under-employment. In this literature, however, relatively little attention has been paid to the institutions that govern the generation, adoption and use of technology.This book draws on historical analysis and case studies to evaluate how institutions in different countries, including those in Africa itself, generate technologies that vary in their characteristics and suitability for the region. Through these case studies, insight is gained into the characteristics of ‘appropriate’ institutions that might underlie a more balanced pattern of technology and development than currently exists. The findings of the book clearly confirm a major tenet of institutionalist theory: namely, that institutions developed in one set of circumstances are unlikely to be appropriate to conditions in a markedly different set.This book will be of interest to economists, social historians and anyone with an interest in modern African development.

The current growth path in sub-Saharan Africa is not following the Lewis model where labour moves from low-productivity agriculture to higher productivity manufacturing. Instead, it is moving directly to inappropriate (import and labour-saving) methods. This book seeks to show how this distorted growth process leaves out the major resource of these countries – labour – and ends up creating unstable employment and underemployment, leading to inequality and poverty. In this way it demonstrates how the entire growth process may be rendered unstable and unsustainable.Sustainable Growth in the African Economy considers whether the relatively rapid growth of recent years can be maintained or improved upon, with a focus on the process of industrialisation. Basing itself on a well-known dual-economy model, the proposed book focuses on several major problems of industrialisation, which has long been seen as the means of structural change in an economy which begins from a low income level. The book considers how the future trajectory of sub-Saharan Africa compares to recent success stories on other continents, and explains how factors such as rapid population growth and capital and import-intensive technology in manufacturing could foreshadow future social and political problems. This book will be essential reading to students and policymakers who are concerned with the existing pattern of African growth.

Jeffrey James is one of the relatively few academics to have systematically taken on the topic of IT and development. In this timely book he undertakes a methodological critique of prominent topics in the debate.Challenging the existing literature by international and governmental institutions, the book looks not only at the digital divide but also at issues such as digital preparedness, leapfrogging and low-cost computers. James also raises important issues which have been largely neglected in the literature, such as the implications for poverty in developing countries and the macroeconomics of mobile phones.The book argues that benefits from IT are captured in a different form in developing as opposed to developed countries. In the latter, gains come from technology ownership and use, whereas in the former, benefits cannot be captured as much in this way because ownership is more limited. Interestingly, the author shows that developing countries have responded to this distinction with a series of local innovations which are often low-cost and pro-poor. This finding contradicts the widely held view that poor countries are unable to generate major innovations within their own borders.Accessible and clearly written, this book will be of great interest to scholars of development economics and development studies, and is relevant to both policy-makers and academics.

This book explores the notion of a technological system and more specifically the distinction between modern and traditional technological systems. By identifying distinct systems of technology in a multisectoral model of the economy we have been able to quantify certain aspects of those systems within a rigorous conceptual framework.

Few English monarchs had to fight harder for the right to rule than King Edward IV – Shakespeare’s glorious son of York. Cast in the Plantagenet mould, over six feet tall, he was a naturally charismatic leader. Edward had the knack of seizing the initiative and winning battles and is free from the unflattering characterisations that plagued his brother, Richard III, having been portrayed as a good-looking and formidable military tactician. Described sometimes as reckless and profligate, all sources remark on his personal bravery. In the eleven years between 1460 and 1471 he fought five major battles in the Wars of the Roses. Three of them – Towton, Barnet and Tewkesbury – rank among the most decisive of the medieval period.This book covers Edward’s family background, the Yorkist takeover and the drift to war. It charts the tensions created by the controversial Woodville marriage and Edward’s deposition by the Earl of Warwick and subsequent exile. The return of the king brought with it more battles and Edward’s decisive campaigns against Warwick and Margaret of Anjou. Finally, Edward’s sudden death heralded the demise of the House of York and the eventual triumph of the Tudors.This is the history of Edward IV’s struggle to gain –and regain – the crown during a period of sustained dynastic turmoil.

This significant book presents an original examination of the theoretical and empirical interactions between globalization, technology and poverty. Jeffrey James studies the effect of information technology on patterns of globalization and explores how such patterns can be altered to reduce the growing global divide between rich and poor nations.The author first illustrates how the impact of information technology on globalization can be conceptualized in terms of transactions costs, product proliferation and mechanisms of cumulative causation. He finds that globalization tends to benefit a relatively small group of rich individuals, firms and countries. Consequently he suggests policy measures through which information technology can be used to lessen, rather than exacerbate, the digital divide. He goes on to argue that even if the proposed measures are reasonably successful, considerable attention will still need to be paid to conventional technologies and, in particular, to the promotion of technologies that will benefit the poorest groups in the developing nations. Finally, the author looks in detail at technology policy in sub-Saharan Africa, a region which has profited least from the benefits provided by new technologies such as email and the internet.Technology, Globalization and Poverty will be essential reading for academics interested in technological change, economic development, and the relationship between the two. Policymakers in both developed and developing countries will also draw great value from this work.

According to many observers, the global digital divide - the extent to which information technology is benefiting developed as opposed to developing countries - has already established itself as the single most pervasive theme of the twenty-first century. The purpose of this book is to explore some of the ways in which this divide can be overcome both within and between nations. Employing a rigorous analytical framework, the author bases his analysis on the concept of international technological dualism. He argues that one possible solution to the problem is the availability of affordable technologies, such as low-cost computers, which are specifically designed for the income levels and socio-economic conditions of developing countries. He also emphasises that the most important aim of any policy measure should be to provide universal access to information technologies, rather than individual ownership. Depending on whether or not this divide can be bridged will, to a large degree, determine whether developing countries are able to attain higher levels of productivity, prosperity and global integration.Development economists, international policymakers and NGOs will all welcome the book's emphasis on various low cost technologies and their application in communal settings in the developing world. The non-technical nature of this volume will also make it accessible to a broader audience who wish to understand ways of alleviating this critical problem which has the potential to become even more acute as new and ever more complex technologies emerge.

This novel book, motivated by the recent introduction of a major innovation in information technology, explores the possibility of the Internet being made available to millions of poor people in developing countries, who are not yet connected.

This book presents new perspectives on current development policy against the background of the Covid-19 pandemic. The author applies new methodological, disciplinary, and analytical approaches to examine specific major contemporary policy issues. The topics covered include the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic in developing countries, an anomaly in the digital divide, Internet connectivity differences in Sub-Saharan Africa, and the domination of India in the spread of new, low-cost smart feature phones.This book is a must-read for a general audience interested in the current development policy in the light of the current Covid-19 pandemic, as well as for students and researchers of development economics and development studies who are interested in issues involving the digital divide and state policy towards the internet in the Global-South.

This book analyzes the use of the mobile Internet against the background of gender bias and Covid-19, currently two of the most important and pressing problems of the Global South.