Book reviews

Turning loose the invisible hand: New Zealand's information technology policy

“…A survey conducted by Bowie and Bollard (1987) found that in 1986, just over half of the manufacturers surveyed used microelectronics technologies in their manufacturing processes (process users), while only 12% made products incorporating microelectronics (product users). Between 1981 and 1986, the number of firms commencing product use was five times the number in the preceding five years, and the number of new process users was four times the number from the earlier period.…”

“…Spending on IT by New Zealand manufacturers as a percentage of GDP in 1987 compared to its neighbors is shown in Table 9. Robots were used by 3%, but that was expected to increase to 12% by 1988 (Bowie and Bollard, 1987). …”