Social Science Research Council
On October 12-14, 2000, the SSRC Collaborative Research Network on Globalization, Local Institutions and Development held the first of two workshops in San José, Costa Rica. This workshop was devoted to a project on 'Industrial Upgrading and Equity in Central America,' which is being supported by the Organization of American States.
The workshop, organized in partnership with the Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences (FLACSO–Costa Rica) and the Central American Foundation for Technical Innovation (Technological and Industrial Development) (CODETI), had two purposes:
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First, participants discussed drafts of 10 conceptual papers that addressed the significance of industrial upgrading for development in different settings.
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Then, participants discussed preliminary results of empirical studies of inter-firm relations and labor market dynamics in the electronics and software clusters in Costa Rica. This research aimed to illuminate the prospects for upgrading in this sector, which is key to Costa Rica's development, as well as to assess the equity implications of processes of change underway in Costa Rica.
Revised versions of the empirical studies were the central focus of a second workshop, held in San Jose on March 16-17, 2001. This workshop also brought together participants from public and private sector institutions involved in Costa Rica's electronic sector with local researchers and participants in the CRN's Working Group on Industrial Upgrading. In addition to leading officials of government and of public and private universities, the meeting included leaders of several business associations and non-profit agencies charged with increasing foreign investment and domestic enterprise linkages to electronics multinationals operating in the country.
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