Currently, the importance of scientific and technological revolution as a factor economic growth has increased enormously, since scientific and technical achievements have appeared and are being put into practice that are revolutionizing production and society. Also in our time, the process of STP (scientific and technological progress) is taking place. STP is “the use of advanced achievements of science and technology, technology in the economy, in production in order to increase the efficiency and quality of production processes, to better meet people’s needs.” This phenomenon “increases the possibilities of production to create new goods, helps improve the quality of already mastered products”, allows us to solve many production problems. It is obvious that a country that widely applies scientific and technological innovations has great opportunities economic growth. The issue of scientific and technical potential, the tendency to intensify development, self-development based on the accumulated industrial and scientific potential is acquiring decisive importance in the conditions of the new stage of scientific and technological revolution, in the conditions of structural restructuring of the world economy. Based on the above facts, we can conclude that the topic of the work is really relevant in our time. It is obvious that scientific and technological revolution has had a significant impact on absolutely all areas public life, including the economic one. Accordingly, the results of scientific and technological revolution have made changes to the industrial structure of the world economy. Industry structure is extremely important for modern world, so depending on whether the proportions between industries are correctly distributed, one can judge the effectiveness of the functioning of the world economic system, the global division of labor, and international economic relations generally. The presented work will examine the definition, characteristics and main features of the scientific and technological revolution; a description will be given of how exactly this phenomenon manifested itself in the world economy; lists structural changes both in industry at the end of the 19th and early 20th centuries, and at the end of the 20th and early 21st centuries.

Scientific and technological revolution: definition, characteristics, features.

• Definition;

« Scientific and technological revolution (STR)- a radical qualitative revolution in the productive forces of humanity, based on the transformation of science into the direct productive force of society.”

• Characteristic;

Within the framework of scientific and technological revolution, a huge number of different concepts and ideas were put forward. They were all united by the fact that people recognized a significant increase in the importance and role of information in the life of modern society. In this regard, scientific and technological revolution occurs inseparably from such a process as the information revolution. Like any global, large-scale phenomenon, the scientific and technological revolution has its main features. These include:

• Universality and inclusiveness (all sectors and spheres of public life are involved and involved);
• Significant acceleration of scientific and technological transformations (when a new phenomenon is discovered or new equipment is invented, it is introduced into production as quickly as possible);
• Increased knowledge intensity of production;
• Military-technical revolution (its distinguishing feature is the increased improvement of weapons and equipment);
• Main features.

The main components of scientific and technological revolution are presented in the diagram below:

So, the main features of scientific and technological revolution are:

• Science becomes a direct productive force, and its active development occurs. In addition to the main important economic indicators, special importance began to be given to government spending on R&D (research and development work). If R&D costs are significantly lower compared to other countries, this most often indicates a low technical level of production development.
• They began to pay more attention to the education system.
• The widespread use of computers, the introduction of new technologies and innovations, the development and use of new types and sources of energy (for example, wind energy), a highly qualified workforce is used in most industries, which can significantly increase labor productivity.
• In connection with the development of science, technology and production, an urgent need to coordinate this production began to be felt.

This was the reason for the development of such a direction as management.

Manifestation of scientific and technological revolution in the world economy

To begin with, I would like to define the term “ world economy" The world economy is a “system of international social division labor and economic relations of individual national economies with each other. Unites into one whole all aspects and directions of international trade, economic, financial, scientific and technical relations.

The main features and trends in the development of the world economy are determined by the objective laws of the functioning of social production. Historically, the world economy was formed on the basis of the capitalist mode of production.” Further, it should be clarified that the world economy began to take shape in the 16th century, since it was at this time that the world market arose. With every year, decade, and even more so century, its structure becomes more complex. The centers of the world economy have changed over time. For example, until the end of the 19th century, Europe was considered the center; at the beginning of the 20th century, the United States. Between World Wars I and II, the transformation of the USSR and Japan into powerful, strong powers played a significant role. After World War II, groups of oil-producing countries began to form, which, in turn, also affected the balance of power in the world economy. The main trend of the last decade is the fact that newly industrialized countries began to develop particularly rapidly. “NIS (English: new industrial countries) are the countries of Southeast Asia and Latin America that have achieved major successes in their industrial development and have approached the lower echelon of developed capitalist countries; Argentina, Brazil, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea, Mexico." It is believed that in the 21st century the world economic model is polycentric, i.e. there are several large centers.

Before the world experienced the industrial revolution, the main source of income material goods There was agriculture, so the agricultural industry dominated. Already starting from the second half of the 19th century - the beginning of the 20th century, it was replaced by the industrial structure of the economy, which implied the predominance of industry over other sectors.

Directly from the middle of the 20th century, the gradual formation and emergence of the so-called post-industrial (or information) structure began. Its main feature is the change in the proportions between the production and non-production spheres (the predominance of the non-production sphere began). Considering changes in the structure of material production, it is worth noting the fact that the predominance of industry over agriculture is increasingly visible. The share of manufacturing industries is growing (it amounts to 90%). In agriculture, there is an intensification of development paths and the introduction of new types of transport. The territorial structure of the economy is also influenced by scientific and technological revolution. Main feature is that there is an active development of areas of new development, where the location of production is influenced by the level of development of equipment and technology.

Structural changes in industry in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

In the relatively short time (since the beginning of the 19th century) the establishment of machine production, more tangible results were achieved in the economic progress of society than in its entire previous history.

The dynamism of needs, which is a powerful engine for the development of production, combined with the desire of capital to increase profits, and therefore to master new technological principles, greatly accelerated the progress of production and brought to life a whole series of technical revolutions.

The rapid development of science has led to the emergence of a number of fundamental discoveries that have found wide application in production. The most important include: the use of electrical energy, the internal combustion engine, the significant growth of the chemical and petrochemical industries (primarily due to the use of oil as fuel and raw materials). Also, a huge number of new technologies have been introduced into metallurgical industry. Such rapid progress in science, technology and production was the reason for the integration of science and technology in various fields. Thanks to the introduction of scientific and technological progress, the scale of production in absolute terms in all industries of the world continues to increase.

• structural changes in the economies of individual countries: the creation of large machine production, the advantage of heavy industry over light industry, the provision of advantages to industry over agriculture;
• New industries are emerging, old ones are being modernized;
• the share of enterprises in the production of gross national product (GNP) and national income increases;
• there is a concentration of production - monopolistic associations arise;
• the formation of the world market was completed at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries;
• the unevenness in the development of individual countries is deepening;
• Interstate contradictions are intensifying.

Structural changes in industry in recent years

The scientific and technological revolution caused a general acceleration in the rate of production growth. However, they are far from the same across different industries. It is these differences that have led to structural changes in industry.

The main change that scientific and technological revolution contributed to was the further increase in the share of industry. It follows from the rapid growth rates of industry as the main branch of material production.

In the industrial structure, extractive industries develop, as a rule, more slowly than manufacturing ones. As a result, the share of the mining industry in the cost of industrial products is constantly decreasing. At the same time, of course, individual sectors of the mining industry are also growing at unequal rates. The most striking example is the fact that in the period from 1950 to 1970. world gas production increased only 1.7 times, while world oil production increased 4.4 times. These kinds of imbalances often determine progressive structural shifts in the global fuel and energy balance.

However, the most significant changes are occurring in the structure of the manufacturing industry. In the conditions of scientific and technological revolution, a distinctive feature of industry is the rapid pace of development of three industries - the electric power industry, mechanical engineering and the chemical industry. This phenomenon can be explained by the fact that the listed industries have a much greater influence on the implementation and achievement of successful results of scientific and technological progress than others.

In fact, the electric power industry acts as the basis for the automation of modern production, the growth of labor productivity, and the increase in its electrical equipment. It is with this that the main revolutionary transformations in the energy sector are associated, which are expressed primarily in the ever-increasing use of nuclear energy.

The difference and special importance of mechanical engineering lies in the fact that it is associated with a qualitative revolution in technology. During the scientific and technological revolution period, the most recent branches of mechanical engineering are growing at the fastest rates, such as the production of electronic computers - the basis of the modern “knowledge industry”, automatic instrumentation, program-controlled machines, equipment for nuclear power plants, rockets, and spaceships. Along with this, mechanical engineering is mastering the production of new types of cars, ships, turbines, electrical devices and instruments, including those for household purposes. In the most developed countries, the share of mechanical engineering in the gross output of the entire industry reaches 80-35%.

The share of the chemical industry in gross output is usually 10-15%. In this industry, despite the importance of basic chemistry (production of sulfuric acid, soda, fertilizers), the leading position has already passed to the chemistry of organic synthesis, which relies primarily on oil and gas raw materials and produces polymer materials. Chemical fibers provide almost 2/s of all raw materials used by the textile industry. Synthetic rubber is already consumed in the world more than natural rubber. And metals and wood are increasingly being replaced by plastic.

In addition to the above facts, important structural changes are also taking place in other industries. Perhaps the most striking example is such an old industry as metallurgy. Although steel still remains the most common structural material and its smelting is 20 times higher than the smelting of all non-ferrous metals combined, the role of non-ferrous metallurgy is growing particularly rapidly these days. This is explained primarily by the rapid growth in demand for so-called “20th century metals.” Until recently, these included only aluminum and magnesium. The development of new industries (nuclear, rocket, space), television, radar, computing technology has sharply increased the demand for beryllium, lithium, zirconium 1, cesium, tantalum, germanium, selenium and other metals.

Changes are also taking place in the structure of agriculture. In crop production, the production of feed, as well as vegetables and fruits, is growing faster. Structural changes are also taking place in global transport, where new types of transport are developing at a particularly rapid pace - road, pipeline and air. If we compare with pre-war times, the freight turnover of railway transport has increased approximately 4 times, and air transport - almost 500 times. A distinctive feature of structural changes in foreign trade There is a noticeable decrease in the share of raw materials and food and an increase in the share of finished industrial products.

Conclusion

After analysis, we can identify several main structural changes in industry that were influenced by scientific and technological revolution:

• There is an accelerated growth in the non-production sector, i.e. service sector
• There is a transition from basic industries (which are resource-intensive) to knowledge-intensive industries
• Significant reduction in the share of agriculture in countries' GDP
• Increasing agricultural efficiency
• Manufacturing industries are becoming the basis of industry
• Increasing the share of manufacturing products
• The leading industries are: mechanical engineering, electric power and chemical industry

In conclusion, I would like to say that it is impossible not to note how significant the contribution of scientific and technological revolution is to the development of modern industry. Even despite some shortcomings (a reduction in the share of certain industries in the overall structure), we can conclude that most of the changes have improved the functioning of the world economic system.

Impact of the scientific and technological revolution (positive and negative consequences)

1. The influence of scientific and technological revolution on the structure of the world economy. At the initial stages of the formation of the world economy, the specialization of individual countries in it was determined by their geographical location, the presence of certain natural resources, features of natural conditions. This is understandable, because the main sectors of the economy were agriculture and handicraft production. And now the importance of these factors cannot be underestimated, especially for the specialization of the Third World countries. But in addition to natural conditions, the economic specialization of countries is increasingly influenced by social, economic, and political conditions, for example, features of the structure of the economy and functioning economic system countries, population traditions and transport development, environmental situation and economic and geographical location. Since the second half of the twentieth century, there has been a huge impact both on the specialization of individual countries and on industry and territorial organization The entire world economy has a scientific and technological revolution (STR). Let us first consider the differences between the evolutionary and revolutionary paths of production development.

The evolutionary path involves improving already known equipment and technologies, increasing the capacity of machines and equipment, and increasing load capacity Vehicle etc. Let's say, the standard power unit capacity at Ukrainian nuclear power plants is 1 million kW (and at the Zaporozhye NPP there are 6 such power units); the Severyanka blast furnace in Russian Cherepovets smelts 5.5 million tons of cast iron per year; France and Japan launched tankers with a deadweight of 500 thousand tons and 1 million tons, respectively, back in the 70s of the last century. But the revolutionary path involves a transition to fundamentally new equipment and technologies (the microelectronic revolution began after Intel patented the new Pentium microprocessor), the use of new energy sources and raw materials (Italy practically does not buy iron ore, using scrap as a raw material for steel smelting (scrap metal), Japan produces about half of its paper from waste paper). The twentieth century is the century of the automobile and the Internet, the computer and space technology, it is the century of gigantic upheavals and great discoveries, wars and revolutions. The most unusual, peaceful, lasting and, probably, the most colossal in this turbulent century is the scientific and technological revolution. Indeed, it began in the middle of the last century and continues today; it does not take human lives, but radically changes the way of life of people. What is this revolution and what are its main features? A scientific and technological revolution is a radical qualitative transformation of the productive forces, in which science becomes a direct productive force. Leading features of scientific and technological revolution:

1) Universality and comprehensiveness. Scientific and technological revolution has “penetrated” into the most remote corners of the world (in any country you can see a car and a computer, a TV and a VCR); it affects all components of nature: the air of the atmosphere and the water of the hydrosphere, the lithosphere and soil, the flora and fauna. Scientific and technological revolution has significantly changed all aspects of human life - at work and at home, and has influenced everyday life, culture and even psychology. If the basis for the industrial revolution of the 19th century was the steam engine, then in the era of scientific and technological revolution such a basis can be called an electronic computer (computer). These devices have made a real revolution in people's lives and in the awareness of the possibilities of using machines in various areas of practical activity and in everyday life. Heavy-duty computers capable of performing billions of operations per minute are used in scientific research, for making various forecasts in the military sphere and other industries. The use of personal computers has become commonplace, the number of which is already measured in hundreds of millions of units.

2) The constant acceleration of scientific and technological transformations, which manifests itself as a rapid reduction in the so-called “incubation period” between a scientific discovery and its implementation in production (102 years passed between the invention of the principle of photography and the creation of the first photograph, 80 years passed from the first transmission of a radio pulse to systematic radio transmissions years, the introduction of the telephone took 56 years, radar - 15 years, television - 14 years, atomic bomb - 6 years, laser - 5 years, etc.). This feature of scientific and technological revolution has led to the fact that various production equipment becomes obsolete faster than it wears out physically.

3) A change in the role of man in social production associated with a change in the nature of work, its intellectualization. If hundreds of years ago, the first thing that was needed was human muscular strength, now quality education and mental abilities are valued. Scientific and technological revolution requires high qualifications and performance discipline combined with creative initiative, culture and organization labor resources. This situation is quite natural, because manual labor is becoming a thing of the past. In modern conditions, disorganization, loss of time, inability to use information, and reluctance to constantly expand one’s professional knowledge will inevitably reduce labor productivity, and sometimes can lead to serious miscalculations in work. In the era of scientific and technological revolution, the importance of skillful management of the production process increases. The production of modern technology, such as aerospace technology, involves thousands of enterprises employing tens of thousands of people. The creation of such complex types of products as an airplane or a spacecraft is managed by people who have perfectly mastered the science of management.

4) Close connection with military production. In general, it should be noted that the real scientific and technological revolution began during the Second World War precisely as a military-technical revolution. Only from the mid-50s of the 20th century did scientific and technological revolution cover non-military production (first there were Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and only then the peaceful use of atomic energy; similarly, the use of cellular communications was initially intended only in military affairs).

Leading directions for improving production in the conditions of scientific and technological revolution:

1) Electronization - providing all types of human activity with computer technology. The world's largest computer parks are in the USA, Japan, and Germany.

2) Complex automation - the use of microprocessors, mechanical manipulators, robots, the creation of flexible production systems. The world's largest parks of industrial robots now have Japan, the USA, Germany, and Sweden.

3) Accelerated development of nuclear energy. If in the mid-80s of the last century (before the Chernobyl accident) there were about 200 nuclear power plants in the world, producing 14% of electricity, now there are more than 450 nuclear power plants in 33 countries, the share of which in global electricity production has reached 17%. The “record holder” is Lithuania, where this share is 80%, in France 75% of electricity is generated at nuclear power plants, in Belgium - 60%, in Ukraine - 50%, in Switzerland - 40%, in Spain - 36 % etc.

4) Production of new materials. Semiconductors have become widely used in the radio industry, ceramic and synthetic materials in construction, new production facilities for smelting titanium, lithium, and other refractory and rare earth metals have appeared in metallurgy, and cermets have become a completely new word in the production of structural materials. Specific gravity wood products and other traditional construction materials fell to a fraction of a percent.

5) Accelerated development of biotechnology. Genetic protein and genetic cell engineering, together with microbiological synthesis, have revolutionized our understanding of the development of many sectors of the economy. Since the 70s of the last century, biotechnology began to play a huge role in agriculture and medicine. Now their importance is growing in the disposal of hazardous waste, provision of raw materials, and new energy sources (for example, biogas production).

6) Cosmization. Firstly, this is the development of the newest branch of the industry - aerospace. With its development, it is created whole line machines, instruments, alloys, which over time find application in non-space industries. That's why $1 invested in astronautics yields $13 net profit. Secondly, it is difficult to imagine modern communications without the use of satellites; even in such traditional activities as fishing, agriculture and forestry, astronautics has found its application. The next step was the widespread use of space stations to obtain new materials, for example, alloys under zero-gravity conditions. In the future, entire factories will operate in low-Earth orbits. Of somewhat less importance, but remaining relevant for pre-industrial countries, are such ways of improving production as electrification, mechanization, and chemicalization. Modern industrial and post-industrial countries followed this path in the first half of the twentieth century. The influence of scientific and technological revolution on the sectoral structure of the economy: Scientific and technological revolution changes not only the nature of work and living conditions of a person, it has a significant impact on the sectoral structure of the economy. The nature of this influence is not difficult to understand if we compare the economic structure of post-industrial and pre-industrial countries. Over the last half century, the scientific and technological revolution has radically changed the economic structure of post-industrial countries, but pre-industrial countries continue to preserve the archaic structures of the year before - at the beginning of the last century, with the predominance of agriculture and forestry, hunting and fishing. Total during the 20th century economic potential humanity has grown 10 times, and the sectoral structure of the world economy has acquired the following features: the share of industry increased to 58% of GDP, service (infrastructure) industries - to 33%, but the share of agriculture and related industries fell to 9%.

2. Material production. As a result of scientific and technological revolution, significant changes have occurred in the structure of the industries themselves. On the one hand, their diversification and the emergence of new industries continued, on the other, industries and sub-sectors were united into complex inter-industry complexes - engineering, chemical forestry, fuel and energy, agro-industrial, etc.

In the sectoral structure of industry (industry), there is a constant trend towards an increase in the share of the manufacturing industry (now it already exceeds 90%) and a decrease in the mining industry (less than 10%). The decrease in the share of the latter is explained by the constant decrease in the weight of raw materials and fuel in the cost price finished products, replacing natural raw materials with cheaper recycled and artificial raw materials. In the manufacturing industry, the “vanguard three” industries are growing rapidly - mechanical engineering, the chemical industry, and the electric power industry. Among their sub-sectors and industries, microelectronics, instrument making, robotics, the rocket and space industry, organic synthesis chemistry, microbiology and other high-tech industries take leading positions. The shift of the center of gravity in the industry of highly developed post-industrial countries from capital- and material-intensive industries to knowledge-intensive ones at the level of the world economy is compensated by industrial and newly industrialized countries. The latter “attract” “dirty” industries, focus on low environmental standards, or labor-intensive industries focus on cheap labor, which is not necessarily highly qualified. Examples include metallurgy and light industry. Agriculture is the oldest and geographically widespread branch of material production. There are no countries in the world whose inhabitants were not engaged in agriculture and related fishing, hunting, and forestry. This group of industries still employs almost half of the world's economically active population (in Africa - more than 70%, and in some countries - more than 90%). But here, too, the influence of scientific and technological progress is noticeable, leading to a reduction in dependence on natural conditions by increasing the share of livestock farming in the structure of agriculture and the “green revolution” in crop production.

3. Transport has also become an important branch of material production. It is this that is the basis of the geographical division of labor, while simultaneously actively influencing the location and specialization of enterprises. A global transport system has been created. Its total length exceeds 35 million km, of which roads - 23 million km, various pipelines - 1.3 million km, railways - 1.2 million km, etc. Every year, more than 100 billion tons of cargo and about 1 trillion are transported by all types of transport. passengers. As a result of the scientific and technological revolution, the “division of labor” between modes of transport changed: the role of railway began to decrease in favor of the more “mobile” automobile and cheap pipeline. Maritime transport continues to provide 75% of international cargo transportation, but has lost its position in passenger transportation, with the exception of tourism. Passenger transportation by air is growing the fastest, although in terms of passenger turnover it is still significantly inferior to road transport.

4. Trade It ensures the exchange of production results. The growth rate of world trade is constantly higher than the growth rate of production. This is a consequence of the process of deepening the geographical division of labor. Under the influence of scientific and technological revolution, shifts are taking place in the commodity structure of world trade; it seems to be “improving” (the share of finished goods is growing, the share of mineral and agricultural raw materials is decreasing). The value structure of world trade is as follows: trade in industrial goods accounts for 58%, services - 22%, mineral resources - 10%, agricultural products - 10%. The territorial structure is markedly dominated by Europe.

Trade in technologies (patents, licenses) is growing faster than trade in goods. Among the countries of the world, the leading seller of high technologies is the United States, the largest buyer is Japan. The scale of capital export (i.e. the exclusion of part of capital from the process of national turnover in one country and its inclusion in manufacturing process or other turnover in other countries) are now comparable to the volumes of world trade. The export of capital occurs in the form of:

1) direct capital investments;

2) portfolio investments;

3) loans.

In the first case, entrepreneurial capital is invested directly in production. Typically, such investments involve direct control of a foreign enterprise. In the second case, investments are not associated with direct control, since they are included in stocks, bonds, etc. In the third case, transnational banks play the main role. If at the first stage of the development of the world economy the leading “bankers” were Great Britain and France, then later the leading positions belonged to the United States. At the beginning of the 21st century, Japan and Germany became the leaders. The sectoral structure of capital exports has also changed significantly. If in the first half of the twentieth century foreign investment were directed mainly to the mining industry, and in the second half of the century there was a reorientation towards the manufacturing industry, now investments in trade, infrastructure, and the latest technologies predominate.

5. Intangible production. At least a fifth of the world's economically active population is employed in non-material production. The steady upward trend in this share is also associated with scientific and technological progress. Thanks to automation and robotization of material production, part of the labor resources is released and they are “flowed” into non-material production. More and more people are beginning to engage in the intellectual improvement of society (education, radio, television, etc.).

An important factor in the development of productive forces was the reconstruction of human physical and creative abilities, which led to an increase in employment in healthcare, tourism, and the entertainment industry. IN modern society There is an “information explosion”: the volume of scientific, technical and other information doubles every 10 years. The human brain is no longer able to process such an amount of information to make the right management decisions at the required speed. Are being created information banks data, automatic production control systems (APS), information and computing centers (ICC), etc. High-speed fiber-optic means and satellite communication systems make it possible to create national and international information services that significantly expand the capabilities of production management. Humanity is entering the information age: “Whoever owns information owns the world.” The influence of scientific and technological progress on the territorial structure of the economy: No less impressive is the influence of scientific and technological progress on the territorial structure of the economy. The location of production is one of the central issues of socio-economic geography. Various factors, for example, natural resources or transport, “guide” the placement of thermal and nuclear power plants, ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy enterprises, machine-building plants and chemical plants. Of fundamental importance is the division of factors for the location of economic sectors (primarily this concerns industry) into two large groups: natural resource, which determines the dependence of the geography of economic sectors on natural conditions and resources, and social (socio-economic), which is based on the laws of social development . Natural and social factors can be considered both as “companions” in the formation of the territorial structure of the economy, and as “rivals” seeking to “drag” production to their side. It is clear that at first natural factors occupied the main place, and today for industries that emerged earlier than others, for example, agriculture and fishing, forestry and mining, they remain decisive. This fact is quite understandable, because Nature (in the broad sense of this term) provides them with water, minerals, soils favorable for economic activity relief, climate and others. The degree of influence of natural resource factors depends on the level of development of the productive forces of society. As productive forces develop, this influence weakens, although it does not disappear completely. The use of advances in science and technology creates the opportunity to overcome unfavorable natural factors, but requires additional costs, which can have a very significant impact on the competitiveness and profitability of the enterprise. The influence of natural factors on the geography of various industries and productions is different: it, as a rule, decreases with an increase in the degree of processing of raw materials, which leads to an increase in the importance of social factors. The influence of public (socio-economic) factors on the territorial structure of the economy increased at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. At first, the transport factor became of great importance. This is understandable: there is a need to transport significant volumes of cargo - mineral and agricultural raw materials, semi-finished products and components, finished goods industrial products etc. Together with railways Industrial enterprises “penetrated” various areas of the world, they attracted the population, and created large settlements (cities) around them. Subsequently, these cities were rebuilt and opened educational establishments and scientific research institutions, highly qualified personnel were trained, who “attracted” new enterprises and transport routes, and over time, an environment of smaller urban settlements was created around these cities. As a result, the largest cities turned into industrial and transport hubs, centers of culture, education and science. It is quite natural that they have become attractive for knowledge-intensive and labor-intensive industries, as well as enterprises that need to cooperate with related factories to produce final products. Thus, cities played (and continue to play) an important role in the “competition” of natural resource and social economic factors. Urban agglomerations, which embodied the factor of territorial concentration (sometimes called agglomeration), “proved themselves especially well.” The final, but not complete victory of socio-economic factors was facilitated by the scientific and technological revolution, which managed to “tear off” the industry from the raw material base. At the present stage of development of the world economy, enterprises in advanced industries gravitate towards countries with high level development of science and technology, significant financial resources, highly qualified and organized personnel. The influence of natural resource factors has noticeably weakened even in moderately developed countries. Material-intensive industries are increasingly “moving” to the sea (to ports), where raw materials can be delivered for further processing. Labor and labor have a very large influence on the location of modern industry. financial resources. Their partial interchangeability can lead to noticeable changes in placement industrial production, for example, if the profit from the use of new high-performance technology and equipment covers the costs due to the use of cheap labor. In the second half of the twentieth century, scientific and technological revolution “tug of war” towards socio-economic factors, and some of the previously existing factors of production location “sounded” in a new way.

First of all, this concerns the environmental factor, which forced the increase in costs for the construction of treatment facilities and the relocation of “dirty” production. Thus, over the past half century, scientific and technological revolution has created a new picture of the world. The influence of social factors most affected the territorial structure of the economy of highly and moderately developed countries. In many underdeveloped countries of the “third world” the “pre-revolutionary” pristine economy is preserved, therefore natural resource and transport remain the determining factors. New trends in the location of industry are the concentration of enterprises in free economic zones and in border areas with preferential tax conditions, as well as the formation of international economic regions. Characteristic feature In recent decades, there has been a tendency towards an increase in the number of enterprises in various industries of optimal size, including mini-enterprises, as well as towards a more even distribution of them. This is facilitated by the expansion of sales markets and the formation of systems of central places in the service sector. Thus, the process of transformation of the factor system into a regular one takes place. In the future, as economic development, Scientific and technological revolution will increase its influence on the sectoral and territorial structure of the national economies of the Third World countries.

GEOGRAPHY
Textbook for high school students and applicants

ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL GEOGRAPHY OF THE WORLD

36. WORLD ECONOMY

36.4. The influence of scientific and technological progress on the industry structure and production location

Scientific and technological revolution contributed to a significant structural modernization of the world economy and a change in the relationship between the most important spheres of the economy. Thus, the share of agriculture in the structure of world material production decreased from 21% in 1950 to 8% in 1990. In the structure of world industry, under the influence of scientific and technological revolution, the share of extractive industries is gradually decreasing and the role of manufacturing industries is increasing. If in the 70s the ratio between them was 13: 87, then in the early 90s it was 8: 92. This is explained by a decrease in the material intensity of production and the growing replacement of mineral raw materials with artificial ones; The share of industry in developed countries is declining, while in developing countries it is growing. It is characteristic that knowledge-intensive sectors of the economy are developing at a faster pace.

The trend towards structural modernization of the economies of advanced countries is evidenced by changes in US production. The structural restructuring of the economy under the influence of scientific and technological revolution in American society is accompanied by a steady strengthening of the role of intangible elements of production resources - scientific knowledge, information, qualifications, which actively complemented and mediated material elements (raw materials, energy, technical and technological). The share of basic sectors of material production - agriculture and forestry, mining and manufacturing - is steadily declining. The areas of so-called heavy industry are largely losing their role as the foundation of the industrial economy, the “locomotive” of its growth. To this it should be added that the defining characteristic of the technical and technological re-equipment of the SENA economy (and not only this country) is an increasingly clear resource-saving orientation. This means that a general increase in economic efficiency is ensured primarily by increased savings of all types of resources (labor, capital, raw materials, energy, financial).

Under the influence of scientific and technological revolution, significant changes are taking place in the structure of the economy. In highly developed countries, the role of high-tech and knowledge-intensive industries is increasing. The specialization of countries is increasing, developing in resource-intensive and labor-intensive industries (oil refining, chemical, metallurgical, light). The environmental factor is becoming important, thanks to which the so-called “dirty industries” (petrochemicals, ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy) are being transferred to countries where they are developing.

Science centers and highly qualified personnel are becoming important factors in structural modernization. Now any advanced country needs not just labor resources, but educated, highly qualified people capable of operating modern technology. Differences in skill and labor costs affect the location of production. The “ground floors” of the manufacturing industry are increasingly moving to third world countries in order to take advantage of cheap labor. An unskilled worker in India receives $1-2 per day, while in the United States $66 is paid for the same work.

The new stage of the scientific and technological revolution that unfolded in the second half of the 20th century led to a deep structural crisis in all countries, especially developed ones. This is not an ordinary cyclical crisis, but a staged one, that is, a crisis associated with the transition to a new phase of socio-economic development. The essence of the current structural crisis lies in the transition from the period of industrialization to the post-industrial era.

Within the framework of a single global economic system, countries and regions are at different stages of development: post-industrial, industrial and pre-industrial. It is the riznostadiy system that determines the patterns of spatial organization of the global system. Post-industrial development would be significantly more complicated without the relocation of many mining and processing industries to countries and regions with cheaper labor, especially to newly industrialized countries.

The gap in basic socio-economic indicators between the countries of the North and the South still reaches 10-15 and even 100 times. This is accompanied by very significant differences in resource consumption and production levels.

Industry- territorial structure economically developed countries are exposed to scientific and technological revolution. It significantly increases the importance of knowledge-intensive industries in the structure of industrial production while reducing the role of traditional industries, and increases the concentration of research and development work (R&D), as well as coordination and management functions.

The territorial structure of the economy (TSG) is influenced by newstructures that are formed in R&D and information centers, that is, direct carriers of scientific and technological progress. Changes in the TSG also occur due to the implementation and material embodiment of the results of scientific and technological progress. The growing role of knowledge-intensive industries contributes to the movement of industrial production to R&D centers, to centers for training and concentration of qualified personnel. The influence of scientific and technological progress and TSG lies primarily in improving and reducing the cost of infrastructure, compacting it and improving the provision of the territory with it. Consequently, favorable conditions are being created for the progress of industry in most regions of these countries, including those difficult to develop, and the need to strictly link material-intensive and energy-intensive industries to the centers of extraction of the corresponding types of raw materials and fuel, as well as the production of cheap energy, disappears. All this contributes to the further consolidation and improvement of the TSG of developed countries and the economic development of new territories.

The nature of structural and spatial shifts in the economies of developed countries at the end of the 20th century. was far from clear. One of the radical trends of shifts, characteristic of all countries, was determined by the focus on cheap work. The main result of this movement was the accelerated development and promotion of countries with large resources of cheap labor to the forefront. In countries with cheaper labor, mass-produced products were concentrated, which required mainly medium- and low-skilled labor. Such industries include light industry, the production of household electrical appliances, mass types of office machines, agricultural and road machines, and mass electronics.

An important trend in the territorial-sectoral structure of the world economy is an increase in territorial efficiency in the location of industry, which is expressed in the further concentration of industry in optimal locations, primarily in seaports, which have become a kind of raw material base for developed countries. The orientation of production towards highly skilled labor has increased, which is manifested in the relocation of industry to areas with a favorable environmental situation. In Western Europe these are areas adjacent to the Alps, in the USA - California, the south of the mountain states, Florida. At the same time, in some countries with a relatively low level of development (Italy, Spain, Greece and others), the focus on cheap labor continues, which stimulates the acceleration of economic growth in these countries. This will entail a further increase in Spain's role in Europe. A noticeable slight decrease in the growth rate of industry in Japan, an increase in the economic potential of those parts of the North American continent where it is possible to use cheap labor (the Mexican south of the USA, Puerto Rico, etc.).

At the end of the 20th century. transnational, even intercontinental, placement systems are being created, represented by transnational corporations (TNCs). The elements of such a system were laid down a long time ago, starting in the 60s, but only now, with the subsequent internationalization of world economic life, have they acquired significant proportions. At the current stage of technological development, the capacities of individual units have long outgrown national and sometimes continental boundaries, and the need for their optimal use requires the creation of a supra-krainian - transnational - production location system. In the process of technological development and, most importantly, competition, the range of products is expanding. This encourages the creation of more and more specialized factories operating at full capacity. Western Europe or the whole world as a whole.

The globalization of the world economy increasingly includes backward countries and their active socio-economic space.

Territorial structure of the world economy - This is the placement of economic sectors by country, region, continent. An important indicator characterizing a country's place in the world economy is gross domestic product (GDP), gross national product (GNP), GDP production per capita, economically active population, specialization coefficient. According to these indicators, and therefore according to their role and place in the world economy, countries are differentiated into three groups: “Center”, “Semi-periphery”, “periphery”. In the countries of the Center of the World Economy, GDP per capita exceeds $10,000 per year, in the countries of the semi-periphery it ranges from $500 to $10,000 per year, and in the countries of the Periphery it is less than $500. The countries of the “Center” include almost all developed countries and rich developing countries are financially surplus oil exporting countries. Semi-peripheries form countries with an average level of development. This is the largest group, which includes most developing countries, former socialist countries. The periphery is represented by the poorest countries in the world. The territorial structure of the world economy has developed over a long period. In the 19th century Europe was singled out according to all indicators, that is, the world economy was monocentric. In the 20th century Another center of the world economy appeared - the USA, which soon took a leading position. After the Second World War, China, Japan, India, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, and now the “newly industrialized countries” (NICs) - North Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore became major economic centers. Today, a polycentric model of the world economy has formed with such centers: North American, the core of which is the US economy, the economies of Canada and Mexico, European, the core of which is the economy of the EU countries led by Germany, Asia-Pacific, the integration core of which was formed by Japan, China and the “Far Eastern tigers”. The process of formation of the economic poles growth continues. The regions of Northern Eurasia, South America, Australia and New Zealand are promising. Scientific and technological revolution influences the territorial organization of production and the location of productive forces. The extensive path of economic development through the development of new lands and the construction of new enterprises is being replaced by an intensive one, which provides for a qualitative renovation of existing enterprises and new approaches to the use of existing territories. The role of factors influencing the location of production is changing. territorial th (the larger the territory, the more options for locating production); economic-geographical location (EGP can be profitable, not profitable; central, neighboring, coastal; focus on imported raw materials and fuel, the revival of world trade makes coastal placement profitable); natural resource (determines the placement of primary production industries; is now losing its influence in the placement of manufacturing industries); transport promotes the exchange of resources, goods, population movement; now, due to the modernization of vehicles in the era of scientific and technological revolution, transportation over significant distances is justified); labor resource (qualified personnel from developed countries contribute to the placement here of the “upper” echelons of the manufacturing industry, which are the most knowledge-intensive and require qualified personnel; the cheap labor force of Southeast Asia attracts pioneers of production from developed countries); concentrations (the consolidation of enterprises contributes to the intensification of the urbanization process and the formation of urban agglomerations); science intensity ( a new factor that contributes to the attraction of production to significant scientific and educational centers, the creation of cities - scientific centers); ecological (it must be taken into account when modernizing existing enterprises and locating new ones; “dirty” production is increasingly being moved to less industrialized and urbanized regions; the laws of many countries provide for strict sanctions for environmental pollution). The world economy is in constant progressive development.

Scientific and technological revolution. In contrast to scientific and technological progress (STP), which accompanies the development of mankind, a scientific and technological revolution (STR) is a period of time during which there is a qualitative leap in the development of science and technology, which is decisively transformative productive forces society.

Modern scientific and technological revolution is characterized by four main features:

1) rapid, accelerated development of science, a sharp reduction in the time between a scientific discovery and its implementation in production;

2) universality, i.e. scientific and technological revolution has covered all sectors and spheres of human activity in all countries of the world;

3) increasing requirements for the level of qualifications of people;

4) the military-applied orientation of scientific and technological revolution as a consequence of its origins during the Second World War.

NTR is a complex system, in which four components interact.

1. Science. A system of “education-science-production” arose. An important indicator of the country's development has become the cost of research and development (R&D). A huge share of such expenses (85%) falls on the leading developed countries: the USA, Japan, Germany, France and the UK. Expenditures on R&D in them amount to 2--3%, and on education - 4--7% of GNP. In most developing countries, the share of R&D expenditures averages 0.4%.

2. Equipment and technology embody scientific knowledge and discoveries. With the help of technology, new means of production are created, A with the help of technology - new methods of processing and processing raw materials. The transition to the latest equipment and technology is most clearly expressed in the production of electronic equipment. That is why the latest wave of scientific and technological revolution is called the “microelectronic revolution.”

3. Production. Electronicization and automation of production are the most important consequences of the “microelectronic revolution,” which led to the reindustrialization of advanced countries on a completely new basis. Other directions can be considered the restructuring of the energy sector, based on energy saving, wider use of new energy sources, in particular nuclear; production of advanced structural materials, biotechnology and microbiological industry and, finally, the development of the aerospace industry. The most important feature of all these areas is their knowledge intensity, that is, the share of R&D costs in the total costs of producing a particular product.

4. Management. The science of management, the general laws of receiving, storing, transmitting and processing information is called cybernetics. The "Cybernetic Revolution" was marked by the transition from paper computer science to machine computer science. She also created a complex information infrastructure, including automated control systems, data banks, information databases, computer centers, video terminals, national Information Systems etc. Ahead of other countries in the development of computer science and cybernetics are the United States, as well as Japan, Canada, Sweden, and Austria.

World economy. The formation of the world economy has occurred throughout human history. At the turn of the XV-XVI centuries. As a result of great geographical discoveries, trade between countries covered almost the entire globe, which led to the emergence of a world market. The next stage was the industrial revolution of the 18th-19th centuries, which sharply pushed the development, first of all, of transport and the entire machine industry, requiring the import of huge quantities of raw materials and food for the rapidly growing urban population. Thus, the world economy was finally formed by the end of the 19th century. as a result of the emergence of the world market, the development of a large machine industry and transport.

In the early 90s. The socialist camp ceased to exist. As a result, the world has ceased to be split into two types of economy and has acquired a polycentric character, although the main economic power is still possessed by three main centers - Europe, the USA and Japan (28%, 26% and 10% of world GDP, respectively). Today, the main “watershed” is not between East and West, as it was before, but between the North (center) and South (periphery), and the gap in the level of socio-economic development between them continues to grow. To the entire periphery of the world economy by the beginning of the 90s. accounted for only 15% of the world GDP.

Geographic division of labor. International geographical division of labor(MGRT) is the most important concept of economic geography, expressed in the specialization of the economy of individual countries in the production of certain types of products or services and in the subsequent exchange of them. In order for such specialization to arise in a particular country, certain conditions are necessary:

a) the country must have some advantages, for example resource ones, over other states in the production of relevant products, and these advantages must persist for a long time;

b) there must be countries that have a need for these products;

c) the costs of production and delivery of products to the consumer should be lower than in other countries;

d) the country must produce more of this product than it needs.

As a result of the fulfillment of these conditions, industries of international specialization are formed in the country, oriented towards the export of products and determining the “face” of the country in the MGRT.

In turn, international specialization makes necessary the international exchange of goods and services, which contributes to the development of international economic relations and the growth of cargo traffic, and a certain territorial gap is formed between the place of production and the place of consumption.

Thus, world economy is a historically established system of interconnected national economies, which is based on the international geographical division of labor and various economic and political relations.

The impact of scientific and technological revolution on the world economy. IN XX century thanks to scientific and technological revolution, the growth rate of the world economy was very high. This process is called third industrial revolution , or reindustrialization.

In the history of economic development, three historical and economic structures can be distinguished. Until the 18th century dominated the world economy agricultural structure. After the industrial revolution, economically developed countries developed industrial structure. From the middle of the 20th century. after the start of the scientific and technological revolution began to form post-industrial (information) a structure characterized by a change in the proportions between the production and non-production spheres in favor of the latter. Thus, in the USA, Canada, and Norway, more than 70% of the labor force is employed in the service sector, while in Russia - 31%, in Burundi - 6%.

IN production sector Scientific and technological progress primarily affected changes in the relationship between industry and agriculture in favor of the former. This is explained, on the one hand, by the most important role of industry in supplying the population with goods and increasing labor productivity, and on the other hand, by the intensification of agriculture and its industrialization. Currently, in developed countries, only 2-7% of the economically active population is employed in agriculture (in industry - 25%), in Russia - 13% (31%), China - 73% (14%), Nepal -- 93% (1%) respectively.

IN sectoral structure In the industry of developed countries, the role of manufacturing industries has increased, and primarily knowledge-intensive ones: mechanical engineering, chemical, and electric power. The share of the mining industry is falling sharply - to 2-3% of total industrial production. In the structure of agriculture, the role of livestock farming is increasing, providing up to 75% of all agricultural products in developed countries.

Scientific and technological revolution had no less influence on territorial structure farms. Many old factors of production location have acquired new content; the emergence of others is directly related to scientific and technological revolution.

IN economically developed countries A territorial structure of the economy with a high level of “maturity” was formed. A system of economic regions of three types has developed here:

a) highly developed areas where there are major scientific centers, high-tech industries, and a well-developed non-production sector;

b) depressed areas that are old industrial, where the influence of scientific and technological revolution is very weak;

c) backward agricultural areas, generally weakly affected by industrialization.

IN developing countries The territorial structure of farms developed back in the colonial era. It is characterized by a low level of “maturity” and at the same time a very high degree of territorial concentration of production and population. The role of the main center of the entire territory is usually played by the capital, which very often also happens to be the main seaport of the country. The role of auxiliary centers of the territory can be performed by areas of export specialization - the mining industry or plantation agriculture. These two or three centers are connected, as a rule, by a single railway, along which mineral or agricultural raw materials are exported to the port of export. The role of the periphery is played by vast territories with traditional consumer agriculture.