Norman Clark

A major problem of conventional economic theory as applied to long-run economic change is its unduly narrow and static character, which compromises its capacity to handle conceptually a social process inherently systemic, complex and dynamic. At the same time there is a growing realization in relevant government and industrial circles (reinforced by the example of Japan) that effective economic policy-making needs a strategic, and therefore a technological, content.Long-Run Economics suggests a more realistic conceptual framework for the analysis of economic and technological change. Borrowing from other disciplines, such as sociology, psychology and biology, the authors develop a model that is evolutionary and systemic in character. Special emphasis is given to the role of information flows in the innovative process, while the overall argument is illustrated by two case studies, photovoltaics and fuel ethanol. Finally, the book stresses the strategic importance of science and technology policy and the role of appropriate institutions in facilitating long-run economic change.

Stemming from an 11-year DFID funded programme under its Renewable Natural Resources Research Strategy (RNRRS), Technology Development Assistance for Agriculture: Putting Research into Low Income Countries reviews part of this programme as a case study of a broader issue of technology development for Africa. Controversially, it critiques current international technology development assistance and focuses on the potential role of the private sector in agricultural technology development as well as providing insights for future cognate science policy and practice.The book focuses on the RIU "Best Bets" Africa sub-programme. This identified promising proposals to take existing agriculture research products and put these into use in ways that would benefit the poor in developing countries. The sum set aside for this was £5 million. The empirical sections of the book cover project selection, progress and programme management over a 2009-2012 period with special attention paid to lessons learned that may have implications for future cognate technology development assistance.This topical book gives direct evidence of meeting objectives and delivering real changes in technology development for Africa to postgraduate students, researchers, international bodies, NGOs, policy makers and government organisations working on natural resource management, technology development assistance, and low income country agriculture.

Stemming from an 11-year DFID funded programme under its Renewable Natural Resources Research Strategy (RNRRS), Technology Development Assistance for Agriculture: Putting Research into Low Income Countries reviews part of this programme as a case study of a broader issue of technology development for Africa. Controversially, it critiques current international technology development assistance and focuses on the potential role of the private sector in agricultural technology development as well as providing insights for future cognate science policy and practice.The book focuses on the RIU "Best Bets" Africa sub-programme. This identified promising proposals to take existing agriculture research products and put these into use in ways that would benefit the poor in developing countries. The sum set aside for this was £5 million. The empirical sections of the book cover project selection, progress and programme management over a 2009-2012 period with special attention paid to lessons learned that may have implications for future cognate technology development assistance.This topical book gives direct evidence of meeting objectives and delivering real changes in technology development for Africa to postgraduate students, researchers, international bodies, NGOs, policy makers and government organisations working on natural resource management, technology development assistance, and low income country agriculture.

The strategic management of socio-economic systems is becoming increasingly difficult with traditional economic models which are unable to handle environmental and technological factors. In Evolutionary Dynamics and Sustainable Development, Norman Clark, Francisco Perez-Trejo and Peter Allen offer a new approach which emphasizes the evolutionary nature of socio-economic systems. This major book begins with a critical evaluation of conventional economic approaches to development planning and then explores how modern general systems theory can show economic development as a process of structural change. The discussion includes the use of decision tools which can simultaneously handle spatial and temporal evolution. The authors develop a model which they explore through case studies of both Senegal and Crete. The model is combined with risk analysis to show how it can be used in computer-based scenarios, before its properties as an aid to decision making are summarized in the last chapter.Defining development as a process of structural change in economic systems rather than in terms of economic output, this volume will be welcomed for its advocacy of non-linear models as decision tools and for its special reference to issues of economic development and environmental stability in Third World countries.