High-Tech Industries, Employment and Global Competitiveness

The process of development in recent times has been characteristically marked by the expanding reach of multinational enterprises, flows of foreign direct investment, unprecedented growth of information and communication technologies (ICT) and knowledge-based industries, and infusion of ICT across the entire spectrum of industries and activities. High-tech knowledge-based industries like information technology, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals and so on have played an important role in the transition of Chinese and Indian economies—the two largest and fastest growing economies.

This inter-disciplinary book offers an in-depth understanding of the behaviour of firms in these industries, analysing the strategies they adopt in a globally competitive environment, the role they have played in ushering in the growth revolution in China and India, and the contribution they have made to the nature and growth of employment. This study also dwells upon the emerging nature of scientific and technological developments like nanotechnology, novel materials, spintronics and quantum computers, with the conclusion that in the future, knowledge and technology are going to be the real sources of wealth for nations.