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8.4 Technology Transfer within Countries
In the transport sector, technology transfer within a country is comparatively
smaller than transfer between countries except for very large countries such
as the USA, Brazil and China. The transfer of vehicle technologies is limited
to sub-contracting between major firms and components manufacturers, especially
among automobile manufacturers. The development of vertical disintegration and
new forms of supplier-client relationships in the automobile industry, which
were triggered by the entry of Japan, has led to the growth of local companies
that can produce specialised components with the desired quality and precision
required. As a result, by 1996 only Ford and Volvo among the major car companies
manufactured more than 60% of their components in-house. Others depend on outside
units such as Volkswagen that used only 43% in-house, Mercedes-Benz 38%, GM
37%, BMW, Renault and Peugeot 33%, Fiat 30% and Honda, Nissan and Toyota 25%
(UNCTAD, 1998). This change has led to flows of technology within certain countries
such as Japan, which depends almost entirely on local Japanese companies for
such transactions. Companies in other countries depend on other developed countries;
for example, Ford of the USA depends on suppliers from Germany, the U.K., Japan,
and Italy, in addition to those of the USA (UNCTAD, 1998). Another area in the
transport sector that involves sub-contracting is infrastructure construction
and maintenance. Local companies are used for the supply of services to the
main contractors and designers in very high quality jobs, especially jobs that
involve international financing. This provides opportunities for the transfer
of skills within countries.
The transfer of low cost measures such as management practices, fleet control,
modal shifts to less carbon intensive modes, improved maintenance, better road
signs and signalling is possible within countries but social, cultural and institutional
barriers may need to be analysed (Pacudan, 1999). The transfer of fuel technology,
such as use of LPG in taxis and CNG in buses, is possible provided the associated
infrastructure and distribution networks such as filling stations, repair shops,
qualified technical personnel for vehicle conversion and installation competence
are available (Sanwar et al., 1999).
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