Employment, Technology And Development

Description

This volume explores the interrelationships between institutions, technology, and employment, offering a conceptual framework for leveraging existing technological knowledge as an employment strategy in developing countries. In this context, Professor Sen emphasizes the importance of appropriate institutional structures, incentive systems, and pricing policies. Two significant sets of guidelines emerge from the study. First, household production modes?common in agriculture and services in less developed countries?have substantial implications for utilizing technologies that rely on domestic, non-wage labor. Second, the study cautions against placing excessive emphasis on developing new intermediate technologies through research and development, arguing instead for the effective use of the existing "technological shelf." A key conclusion is that economic and employment policies, if formulated in isolation from the specific political, social, and institutional context, are likely to fail. Conducted by Professor Sen for the International Labour Organization (ILO) in the 1970s, this study also highlights the use of social benefit-cost analysis as a tool for evaluating employment policies and optimizing resource allocation in developing countries. While largely analytical, the book also addresses empirical challenges, such as the measurement of unemployment in India. This work will interest general readers and will be particularly valuable to labor and development economists, as well as policymakers.

About the Author

Amartya Sen is Lamount University Professor, Harvard University and the winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics, 1998.