Use of appropriate technology
Improving the quality and quantity of capital resources available to the labour force will improve its productivity and lead to
economic growth and development. One of the big question facing many
less developed countries relates to the types of capital that are going
to have the largest impact on the productivity of the labour force. We
have seen in early sections that low levels of education will limit the
extent to which labour can utilise capital to raise productivity.
Investment in capital is expensive and the costs of maintaining and servicing equally so. It is argued by some development economists that given the large labour force, and high rates of unemployment, that using capital intensive production methods, is not the most cost efficient solution to low economic growth and can worsen the levels of poverty.
What then are appropriate technologies?
In 1983, the OECD defined the term 'appropriate technology' as being characterized by:
A useful background to appropriate technology can be found in Wikipedia. You can do this in the web window below, or follow the previous link to open the article in a new web window.