The objective of this research is to examine the institutional development of biotechnology in Brazil and, in particular, the role played by small firms in fostering biotechnology in the health and agriculture sectors and their relationship with both universities and large firms. The interest in this study stems from the crucial role played by small, high technology firms in innovation and diffusion of new technologies. Case studies emphasising the innovative capacity of small firms in several advanced countries are now available. In the US, in particular, there has been a proliferation of hundreds of small firms in biotechnology since the late 70s. The pattern of biotechnology development in the US suggests that small firms are functioning as a "bridge" between academia and large corporations. In developing countries, very little is known about the role of small firms in innovation, especially in a new, high technology area such as biotechnology. In the early 1980s, however, the emergence of a number of small companies operating in biotechnology in Brazil suggested that this might be the beginning of a new indigenous industry in this area. The purpose of this study was therefore to find out precisely what these biotechnology companies were doing, how far they fitted the American model of the new biotechnology firms and their links with the academic base, financial structures and large firms. It is the first study in this area, and it has been deliberately directed towards concentrating on the role of these small companies have played in the development and diffusion of this new technology. The empirical research presents original data collected from detailed interviews with twelve representative firms and relevant governmental agencies, carried out in 1989. Interviews were also conducted with academics in order to assess how far the small biotechnology firms were linked into the growing competence in this area of Brazilian universities. The main findings show that there are differences but also similarities between the American and the Brazilian pattern of biotechnology development. The Brazilian companies are not operating at the cutting-edge of this technology. On the contrary. they are using older and well tried techniques such as plant tissue culture. They do, however. link into the universities and large corporations.

This study investigates the indicators of the number of ATMs (automated teller machines) in the provinces of Turkey by examining two banks: T.C. Ziraat Bankasi and T. iS Bankasi. The study depends on annual panel data from 1990 to 2004 for seventy-three provinces of Turkey. The information about the number of ATMs of the two banks is gathered after a study in the archives of the banks. In this study it is concluded that the number of ATMs of T. iS Bankasi and T. C. Ziraat Bankasi in the previous year and the total number of branches of the banks in Turkey are the indicators of ATM adoption for both of the banks concerned. However, population has a negative sign for T. C. Ziraat Bankasi which is a state bank whereas it has a positive sign for T. iS Bankasi which is a quasi-private bank. The findings also indicate that the ATM number of T. iS Bankasi is more sensitive to the number of total bank branches.

This thesis is an analysis of technology diffusion and the long-run institutional impact of the nature of that diffusion. It examines how a growing commercial trading relationship with Lancashire-based millwrights enabled textile industrialisation in late 19th century Bombay, and reflects upon the evolving character of Indian manufacturing and organisational behaviour within and beyond the colonial context, and into 21st century industrial strategy. Drawing upon primary archival material from sources in Britain and India (including historical company records, trade association records, transactional correspondence between Lancashire and Bombay, and administrative records of the India Office in Whitehall), and upon 27 elite interviews with prominent Mumbai-based businessmen and their families, a technological and cultural dependence by manufacturing elites upon the commercial agent is identified. The emplacement of colonial business norms and particularly the use of informal networks, in turn bolstered by a culture for clubbability, appears to influence the distinctly tight-knit, ‘gentlemanly’ character of Indian family business houses established during the late 19th and early 20th century. Applying a mixed-methods approach to technology theory and analysis, the data chapters are split into two parts, respectively concerning info rmation flows and knowledge flows from the UK to Western India. The former explores patterns in technological transactions and decisions governing the diffusion of textile technology that enabled industrial establishment. The latter focuses on the replication of managerial, cultural and business practices following and reflecting upon Bombay’s textile industrialisation; this establishes the observed presence of British ideals of gentlemanly business conduct within informal networks, familial and community ties. Overall, this research highlights how business history may be used as a lens to understand the process of technology diffusion and analyse the reinforcement of culturally-hybrid social norms in peripheral regions via technical or commercial links. In terms of developmental trajectory, moreover, this case study considers how given limited capacity for innovation or capital goods production, strategic supply-side decisions may garner early cumulative value by replicating industrial production, albeit with long-term institutional consequences. This research has implications for future understanding of the development of UK-Commonwealth trading relationships, and how these might foster structural transformation in the so-called Fourth Industrial Revolution. While this thesis focuses on the diffusion of physical capital and technology-driven industry, such a narrative exploration of networks and business norms surrounding structural transformation might be pursued based on alternative factors of production including capital investment and flow, or else feasibly extend into other post-colonial regions.