Technology-based changes of international division of labor in recent decades (Analysis based on selected economies)

Abstract

One of the undeniable feature of the contemporary international division of labor is increasing importance of ITC technologies and social capital, which allow the economy to be more competitive due to arising many connections to the global information networks. Based on conducted research it seems that a straightforward distinction between most developed, post-industrial economies and other economies on different, but lower stages of development, is simply obsolete. First and foremost, some developing countries are gaining on importance in international trade of high-tech products and knowledgeintensive business services (China and India are the most evident examples). On the other hand, these countries have become more and more effective competitors to developed countries in so called creative industries. This is partly caused by foreign direct investments flowed in especially during two past decades, but also is a consequence of social and educational policy leading to development of networked human capital, a substantial asset in the modern global economy. In a way such progress of developing countries under scrutiny in this article should be considered as an indication for Eastern European countries, such Poland and Ukraine, which are technologically backward on course for knowledge-based economy creation.