Ttus level of response must cast doubt on whether the methodology used is vmble Either the EEC of'floats found the length and compleraty of the questionnaire daunting, or they faaled to appreoa te the relevances of the research project to their own prob- lems One can sympathize with the lat ter view, since the research project sucks closely to the study of actlVataes, rather than pressing forward to con- sider the Lmpact of the way people work on their output and performance

One final reaction to the book is that the level at which it is written osollates disconcertingly between the strmght-

forward and the highly technical, and tins leaves uncertain the audience at winch it is directed Although it is generally jargon-flee, there are lapses for instance, 's~zothyrmc' appears on p 99, but is only explained on p 250 Similarly, a brief annex giving a simple explanat ion (ff such a thing is possible 9) of the techraque of factor analysis would enable the manager or pohcy maker to make more sense of the research results quoted

Caroltne Hayman, Coopers & Lybrand,

London, UK

State innovation policy INDUSTRIAL INNOVATION AND PUBLIC POLICY PREPARING FOR THE 1980s AND THE 1990s

by Roy Rothwell and Walter Zegve~d

Frances Ptnter, london, 1981, 251 pp

In this substantial and useful overwew of government pohcles towards industrial innovation, the authors introduce the reader to the important concept of state mnovatlon pohcy as, essentially, a fusion between industrial policy and soence and technology pohcy It is also a very tLmely contribu- tion to a topic requiring (and m some countries, recelwng) urgent considera- tion in the face of technical develop- ments In need of state support, strategic planning, sooa l awareness, and perhaps even international collabora- tion Developments in telecommunica- tions would certainly be one such area

The rationale underlying the book (that innovation is cruoal to industrial eff ioency and competatlveness, to economic growth, and, ultimately, Is a benefit to society) is well covered m the first three introductory chapters wluch serve to estabhsh clearly the frame- work in which, it is deemed, umovataon policy Is required to operate For example, the authors indicate clearly how renovation opportumtaes and con- stramts are mterhnked vath social factors as well as economic and pohtlcal acUvmes, though they are obwously

more preoccupied with the latter in this presentat ion

With supporting evidence from several speofic Issues in innovation pohcy being presented m the nuddle chapters, the authors feel able to beheve m,

the necessity for carefully thought-out strategic long-term mnovatmn pohoes based on an assessment of current and future technological, economic and social needs and problems, and on an awareness of technological trends and assooated commercml opportunmes

It may sound a httle too al l-embraong but the supporting ewdence is substan- tial, and it is perhaps worth mentlomng the speof ic Issues raised, since they all bear relevance to telecommunications innovation actwmes As a brief but cogent forerunner to their chscusslon of these issues, the authors address the more general problems of government intervention In the renovation process and consider the main forms that government influence on innovation takes These are considered to be procurement pohoes , regulaUon, subsidies, mflastructural support, and p o h o e s for small and medium-sized firms Each in turn ts gwen chapter- length treatment, though it must be noted that, among others, some fiscal issues (eg taxation, price controls) and some enwronmental influences (eg economic chrnate, planumg, regmnal pohoes , and the presence of multi- nationals) are omitted from the book's considerations

Book revLews

The compansons of various govern- ments ' recent pronouncements on mdustnal renovation pohcy m chapter 5, which lughhght the chstmctly different approaches of these countries, provide interesting insights m pohcy formulation espeoal ly where recent technological developments an, for example, communications, space and marine exploitation vail necessitate international collaboration Of more practical use are the classlficataons of pohcy tools and pohcy target levels which, when used m conjunction vath the tables of the various governments' objectives, concerns, etc, relating to mnovauon, gwe a clear Indication of each country's problems, weaknesses, and strengths m renovation actwmes

Of the chapters devoted to the speof ic issues noted earher the least satisfactory is that dealing with sub- sidies, but this is more than compensated (for telecommunications readers, at least) by the attention gwen to procurement, regulation, mfra- structural support and pohcies for small and medmm-slzed firms

On mnovatlon-onentated govern- ment procurement, the authors examine such mfluences as market structure (eg a monopsomc market where the government is the sole buyer which is generally the case vath mlhtary and telecommunication technologms), pohcy objectives (eg whether the policy Is at tempting to Improve the quality of goods or the lnternatmnal competmve- ness of the industry will affect the nature of support gwen) and govern- ment orgamzauon and procedures These discussions are followed by descriptions of a number of procure- ment programmes from vanous countnes

While the authors indicate that regulatory issues pnmanly involve political decisions, they also consider the dilemmas within regulation polmes which try to maintain a balance between protecting the interests of workers and consumers on the one hand and providing a chmate conduove to innovative endeavour on the other The key to reduong much of the uncertainty over regulaUons, they conclude, lies in regulauon formulation and Lmplementatlon on which they make several suggestions

TELECOMMUNICATIONS POLICY June 1982 149

Book r e v i e w s

Though procurement and regulation are perhaps the most perunent of the toplcs covered for the telecommumca- Uons industry, nevertheless the remaining chapters on infrastructure, small and medium-sized firms, and structural change and employment offer many other interesting mslghts into mnovauon pohcy The final chapter summarizes the book's findings and, m a conose and erudite fasluon, recommends many measures that should produce pohcms and structures appropr ia te to the 1980s and 1990s WMle they admit that renovation policies may be seen as attempts to 'achieve stmultaneously &verse social, technological and economm goals wluch cannot always be easdy reconoled ' , the experiences from

which they have drawn some of thetr ewdence shows that such pohcms can work Thetr conclusions mclude, among those not already menuoned, the need for a greater emphasis on mnovauon rather than R&D support, an overall strategy of technological and industrial development, the estabhsh- merit of a state industnal development bank, and the existence of a strong co- or&natmg role within government for mnovanon pohcy matters The con- cluslon of this revmwer is that this substanUal pmce of work deserves your at tention

Keffh Dickson Technology Policy Umt

Umversay of Aston Birmingham, UK

Disturbing trends in female labour market

WOMEN AND THE CHIP

Case Stud=es of the Effects of Informat=cs on Employment =n Canada

by Heather Menzles

Instffute for Research on Public Policy, Montreal, 1981, 98 pp

Tins book at tempts to assess the effects of au tomauon in the service sector on the employment of women in Canada, with projectmns relevant to the end of the century The concentrauon of female employees in clerical jobs m the service producing industries is emphasized In May 1980, 81% of worlong women were employed by this sector of industry

Office automation makes possible electronic processing stonng and transnusslon of written, numerical or graphic information Word processors cut down retyping tune, facsumle pnnters enable remote photocopying, and magnetic tapes and &scs to replace fihng cabinets and clerks

The consequences of the expected effects are illustrated by four case studies at the level of single companies

and lndustnes which had expenence of introducing automatmn technology to workforces These results are expected to become more general as the cost of electromc storage of mformauon decreases

The effects on clerical jobs are both interesting and d~sturbmg Job losses in one company's head office m the t ransport and commumcatlons sector were greatest m low skilled categories, while the skdl content of professional and managerial jobs increased Only 1% of women displaced moved into the managerial level Other effects found were ' jobless growth' , ie increasing business without mcreasmg jobs, ' r ipple effect ' , where firms expanded into new areas w~thout replacing the jobs they displaced, and, generally the standardLzauon, fragmentauon and separauon of job funcaons The latter makes clerical work more boring and increasingly controllable, wMle job losses through failure to reemploy large numbers IS not the type of loss wl~ch causes much pubhclty In some cases, the number of low level managerial jobs decreased, while m others these increased, maslang a dechne in clerical workers ' jobs

Using these trends, Menzms estl-

mates a mmtmum of 12% female unemployment in Canada by 1990 She therefore recommends government sponsored educauon and mformatlon campmgns for women, and encourage- ment to industry to set up job mob~hty programmes for clerical workers

Disturbing trends This IS a fmrly short report and the case studies themselves are correspondingly brief, amounting to no more than an overwew of the trends that have been taking place There is httle chscusslon of the variables which influence the diffusion of automation technology, but tMs is assumed to be an u'reverslble t rend Nevertheless there is enough statistical reformation on job losses in the sectors studies to expose the trends which have been taking place

There is no discussion of workers' resistance to the mtroductlon of auto- maUon technology m any of the case studms, no doubt we are to presume that the large proportion of non- unlomzed labour amongst clerical workers have made the mtroducaon of au tomated equipment and restructur- ing of jobs a relatwely strife-free task It would be interesting to see If these are the trends m the UK There is no discussion of the role unions might play m reforming and educating thetr members about trends m clerical work, and although uptake of the pohcy suggestions by government and industry would be a progressive step, it Is hard to believe that, m a tune of world recession, the retraining of women will be a priority for any government m the near future

The report , however, hlghhghts some dtsturbing trends in the female labour market , especially related to 'Mdden ' job losses wMch need to be pubhozed For those mterested in the effects of automation in the serwce sector m the UK, comparisons w~th Canada will no doubt be a useful adjunct to then" work

Anne-Mane Co/es Technology Policy Unit

Umversa~y of Aston Birrnmgham, UK

150 TELECOMMUNICATIONS POUCY June 1982