Acquisition of technological capability in development : a quantitative case study of Pakistan's capital goods sector

There is by now a substantial body of literature that points to the importance of technological capability acquisition for industrial development. This literature, however, is almost exclusively based on qualitative case studies. This paper addresses the lack of objective quantitative measurement and testing. Using data from a survey among capital goods manufacturers in Pakistan, it develops quantitative proxies for technological capability and various learning mechanisms that are believed to contribute to its emergence. These are used in a regression analysis aimed at finding statistical support for the contention in the literature that capability results from an effortful learning process, and at analyzing the main dimensions of that process.