Technology and the Canadian Forest-Product Industries ... - ArtSites

Forestry Sector R&D SystemIn Canada, forestry sector R&D is performed by forest-product manufacturingfirms, cooperative (association) laboratories sponsored byforest-product manufacturing firms and by governments, equipmentmanufacturers, small specialized firms, federal and provincial governments,and universities."These institutions and the information pathways that exist bothwithin and between them, to facilitate development, evaluation, anduse of technology, make up the R&D system. The links, which may beprivate or public, formal or informal, hierarchial or lateral, unidirectionalor multidirectional, are referred to as technological liaisons.They mayor may not be free. In the latter case, the charge may beexplicit or implicitly incorporated within the price of a broad set ofgoods and services.The different kinds of research institutions enjoy different advantagesin the R&D system!' (Figure 2.1). In particular, basic research isbest performed by universities, applied research by the cooperativelaboratories, process development by the equipment suppliers, newproduct development by forest-product firms, and technology transferby equipment suppliers and forest-product firms.Of course, reality is not quite so simple. For small firms, forexample, the risks and costs of R&D may be prohibitive and soFigure 2.1: The Comparative Advantages of Alternative Agencies in theForestry Sector R&D Process.NewBasic Applied Process Product TechnologyResearch Research Development Development TransferUniversities A ABC CResearchcooperatives B A B B CIndustry R&D C B B A AEquipmentsuppliers C C A C ASource: G.L. Forgacs, "The role of industry research," paper presented atBritish Columbia's Future in Science and Research. Executive Seminar sponsored byBritish Columbia Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, Delta RiverInn, Delta, 25 July 1979, 4.Note: A is strong comparative advantage; B is moderate comparativeadvantage; C is weak comparative advantage. Note that if government-runlaboratories were to be included they would enjoy moderate comparativeadvantages in basic and applied R&D but would not be effective indevelopmental and technology transfer work.30