Chamada de trabalhos : "Impacts of Economic Liberalization on IT Production and Use"

[Luiz Ernesto Merkle <lmerkle@julian.uwo.ca>]

Date: Sun, 10 Oct 1999 16:16:54 -0500
From: Rob Kling <kling@indiana.edu>
Subject: CFP -- "Impacts of Economic Liberalization on IT Production 
and Use"

         Call for Papers

      Special section of The Information Society

"Impacts of Economic Liberalization on IT Production and Use"

Countries around the world have been liberalizing their economies for
the past 10-20 years.  These include former Eastern Bloc countries,
and also countries such as China, India, Brazil and Mexico, who had
previously maintained high trade barriers.  While economists argue
that liberalization increases economic efficiency, there is little
research of the impacts of liberalization on specific economic
sectors.

One sector which has seen a clear trend toward liberalization has
been the IT industry.  As countries have lowered barriers to trade
and foreign investment, multinational computer companies have extended
their production networks to many newly industrializing and developing
countries around the world.  Sometimes local companies have been
the victims of foreign competition and other times they have become
suppliers to foreign MNCs.  Developing countries also have seen rapid
growth in IT use, and more recently in Internet use, as prices have
fallen and companies have invested in IT as a competitive tool.

This special section will analyze the impacts of liberalization on the
IT sector in developing and transitional (former socialist) countries.
Some of the issues that could be covered include:

1. the impacts of market liberalization on computer production,
including the impacts on local companies and on the location and
sourcing decisions of foreign multinationals.

2. the extent to which countries have become integrated into the
global computer industry as a result of liberalization.  This could
involve becoming export platforms or supply bases for hardware
production, but also could involve providing software and services
(such as customer services) for foreign companies and markets.

3. the impact of liberalization on IT use, including the impacts on
prices, on introduction of new technologies, on the entry of foreign
companies with advanced information systems, and on IT use by local
companies.

4. how different national industrial structures and capabilities can
lead to different outcomes from liberalization.

5. whether different approaches to liberalization such as immediate
versus gradual lead to different outcomes.

6. how government policies to promote IT production and use, or to
enhance national capabilities, can lead to different results as
countries liberalize.

The types of papers that will be considered include:

a. Country case studies

b. Comparative studies of two or more countries

or

c. Thematic papers covering issues such as those raised above

You can learn more about The Information Society (and instructions for
authors) at: http://www.slis.indiana.edu/TIS

Questions about your article and this special issue should be directed
to the Special Issue's Guest Editor, Prof. Kenneth Kraemer at:
kkraemer@uci.edu

Deadline: Manuscripts must be received by November 15, 1999, to be
considered for review.

Length to be 25-30 pages.  Four copies of each manuscript formatted
for TIS should be sent to:

                                 Kenneth L. Kraemer
                                 CRITO, Suite 3200 Berkeley Place
                                 University of California, Irvine
                                 Irvine, CA 92697


----
Rob Kling                              
http://www.slis.indiana.edu/kling
The Information Society (journal)      
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Center for Social Informatics          
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Indiana University
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Read:
"What is Social Informatics and Why Does it Matter?"
D-Lib Magazine    January 1999  Volume 5 Number 1
at http://www.dlib.org:80/dlib/january99/kling/01kling.html

You can learn about our Scholarly Communication & IT Project at:
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