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Indee, if barers fall, the effect could be positive. Other institutions, espeially those setting
stadards for marne electronic instruments or those sponsoring R&D efforts, may have a larger
impact on the competitiveness of U.S. firms. Here again, the direction of the impact--positive
or negative--still is uncertn.
Public marne science and technology R&D "investments" in Europe are small, but not
insignificat. Increasingly, we se these investments being combined in international, crosssetoral
resech efforts designed to reduce duplication, widen the distribution of resulting
benefits, and enhancing a goal of "tehnology trsfer." This policy is largely a reaction to the
large sce resech efforts mounted in the Unite States and the recnt great commercial success
of Japanese companies in markets in Europe and in the Unite States. This policy is not peuliar
to advanced marne electronics but spans all advance technology fields. The effectiveness of
such a policy remains to be demonstrted. However, it is fairly clea that firms from the United
States, Canada, and Japan wil be watching these resech efforts, not parcipating directly.
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