Advances in Technology and Global Welfare

Abstract

The real impact of advances in technology on global welfare is an unresolved issue. According to a recent Human Development Report, globalization based on technical advances in information technology has not had a positive impact on economies of developing countries. While advances in technology have helped improve standards of living in industrialized countries, they have caused developing countries to further lag behind. Some other studies, however, have concluded that investment in technology is a critical factor in improving economic welfare of all countries. It is important to note that most of the empirical studies in the latter group have treated technology investment as an independent variable explaining growth in economic welfare. In this paper, we argue against the notion that investment technology is an independent variable explaining welfare in developing countries. In section one, we present logical reasons why technology in itself fails to create better standards of living in developing countries. In section two, we will use a cross sectional simple regression model to test the relationship between advances in technology and economic welfare in developing countries. The results of our empirical study confirm our arguments of section one that global technological advances have not helped the economies of developing countries.

Citation

Fazel, S. (2003), "Advances in Technology and Global Welfare", Humanomics, Vol. 19 No. 3, pp. 36-40. https://doi.org/10.1108/eb018887