Technological innovation, competitiveness and international trade.

Abstract

The relative position of a country or region in the international market is increasingly determined by its rate of creation and dissemination of technology , which together enable the increases in competitiveness necessary for carving out a stronger position in the world market. Latin America has used industrial and trade policies to change the profile of its production structure and to create comparative advantages in new sectors. The changes brought about in the structure of industry in some countries, in technologically more sophisticated sectors, have been quickly reflected in higher exports. The obtaining of this result is associated with development of the region’s technology capability and the transfer of technology from more developed countries. It is noteworthy that the countries with the best export performance in terms of products with a high technology content are those with high levels of R&D activities. However, it should also be noted that these indexes are modest compared with those of the developed countries.