Functions Manually

and other developing countries performing similar tasks. The discussion that follows explores examples for some specific sectors.

Food Processing In the case of food processing, the technology gap between GBFs and SBFs is less obvious. Generally, for most business functions, SBFs use more sophisticated technologies, but there are some exceptions where the gap is narrow (figure 3.4). The comparison across firms in Burkina Faso, Korea, and Vietnam suggests that the average firm uses mechanical equipment manually operated for mixing/cooking, but in all business functions they are at least one step above the most basic (usually manual) method to perform the task. Firms in Korea are relatively closer to the frontier for this function. The country ranking according to per capita income holds for average technology indexes for both GBFs and SBFs, with firms in Korea using more advanced technologies, followed by Vietnam and Burkina Faso, but with the differences between the last two countries much narrower for some functions.

Wearing Apparel For wearing apparel, the differences in both GBFs and SBFs are narrower across countries, especially those that export significantly, although with low

PHOTO 3.2 Small Firms in Developing Countries Still Perform Many Functions Manually

Source: World Bank. Note: Photo taken during the pilot of the Firm-level Adoption of Technology (FAT) survey in Bangladesh in a food-processing firm with 90 workers, showing the packaging process. The worker is checking the amount of liquid in each bottle, which was filled with a manually operated machine. If she decides that there is too much liquid, she pours the excess in the blue bucket. Then she adds the excess to another bottle if she decides that it is not full enough.