Do world politics affect the adoption of new technology? States overwhelmingly rely on technology invented abroad, and their differential intensity of technology use accounts for many of their differences in economic development. Much of the literature on technology adoption focuses on domestic conditions. The authors argue instead that the structure of the international system is critical because it affects the level of competition among states, which in turn affects leaders’ willingness to enact policies that speed technology adoption. Countries adopt new technology as they seek to avoid being vulnerable to attack or coercion by other countries. By systematically examining states’ adoption of technology over the past two hundred years, the authors find that countries adopt new technologies faster when the international system is less concentrated, that changes in systemic concentration have a temporally causal effect on technology adoption, and that government policies to promote technology adoption are related to concerns about rising international competition. A competitive international system is an important incentive for technological change and may underlie global technology waves.

中文翻译：

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技术变革与国际体系

世界政治会影响新技术的采用吗？各国压倒性地依赖于国外发明的技术，它们在技术使用上的不同强度是它们在经济发展中的许多差异的原因。许多关于技术采用的文献都集中在国内条件上。作者认为，国际体系的结构至关重要，因为它会影响国家之间的竞争水平，进而影响领导人制定加速技术采用政策的意愿。各国采用新技术是为了避免受到其他国家的攻击或胁迫。通过系统地考察过去 200 年来各国对技术的采用情况，作者发现，当国际体系不那么集中时，各国采用新技术的速度更快，系统集中度的变化对技术采用具有暂时的因果影响，而且政府促进技术采用的政策与对国际竞争加剧的担忧有关。具有竞争力的国际体系是技术变革的重要动力，可能是全球技术浪潮的基础。