Microelectronics at work: productivity and jobs in the world economy. [Monograph]
Some of the technological developments that lie at the core of this electronic revolution are less than a decade old. An attempt to assess their social and economic significance is thus akin to forecasting the impact of the automobile on society as the first Model T rolled off the assembly line. Yet one thing is clear: microelectronic technology will have a pervasive and long-lasting influence on international trade, patterns of employment, communications, industrial productivity, entertainment, and social relationships. The spread of microelectronic technology will be a mixed blessing. Its impact on levels and patterns of employment could be enormous. The labor-saving potential of microelectronics is such that many jobs could disappear as employers take advantage of the increased productivity offered by computer-controlled equipment. Indeed, it is this potential that provides much of the driving force behind the rapid adoption of the technology. The complex social and economic issues raised by the development of microelectronics are likely to pose difficult problems for industrial and economic policy in every country. An intense debate has already erupted in Europe over some of these issues, though it has yet to be joined in the United States. Moreover, the special problems posed for developing countries by the emergence of a technology that could fundamentally affect patterns of production, world trade, and international investment have received only scant attention.
- OSTI ID:
- 6591202
- Resource Relation:
- Related Information: Worldwatch Paper 39
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
POLICY AND ECONOMY
99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS//MATHEMATICS, COMPUTING, AND INFORMATION SCIENCE
MICROELECTRONICS
ECONOMIC IMPACT
SOCIAL IMPACT
DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
EMPLOYMENT
EUROPE
GLOBAL ASPECTS
LABOR
PRODUCTIVITY
USA
NORTH AMERICA
290200* - Energy Planning & Policy- Economics & Sociology
990300 - Information Handling