Economics And Politics Of Industrial Policy

This book maps the process and political economy of policy making in Africa. It's focus on trade and industrial policy makes it unique and it will appeal to students and academics in economics, political economy, political science and African studies. Detailed case studies help the reader to understand how the process and motivation behind policy decisions can vary from country to country depending on the form of government, ethnicity and nationality and other social factors.

Industrial policy is a good example of the growing economic and political interdependency between Europe and the United States. The contributors to this volume, which compiles the proceedings of the seventh conference sponsored by the Institute for the Comparative Study of Public Policy, examine the ways in which national, and supranational in the case of the European Community, industrial policies are implemented. It is thought that diversity within the country is the primary reason why the United States does not have a comprehensive national policy. There is a consensus among the authors that the U.S. economy is less subject or amenable to central government planning than the economies of Europe. In Europe, there is more interest in coordinating industrial policy throughout the European Community, but here too the failure to adopt a comprehensive policy reveals the enormous diversity and parochialism that conflict with supranational goals. The contributors conclude that while a centrally planned and implemented industrial policy may be desirable, we do not have the means to achieve it. Acknowledging the major industrial and trade problems facing the United States and Western Europe, the authors feel that it is not clear whether these problems can be resolved by government intervention.

This study provides a comprehensive discussion of the controversial issue of industrial policy, drawing on some recent developments in economic theory in areas like political economy, institutional economics, industrial economics and theories of technical progress.

Much of the information relevant to policy formulation for industrial development is held by the private sector, not by public officials. There is therefore fairly broad agreement in the development literature that some form of structured engagement, often referred to as close or strategic coordination, between the public and private sectors is needed, both to assist in the design of appropriate policies and to provide feedback on their implementation. There is less agreement on how that engagement should be structured, how its objectives should be defined, and how success should be measured. In fact, the academic literature on close coordination provides little practical guidance on how governments interested in developing a framework for government business engagement should go about doing it. The burden of this lack of guidance falls most heavily on Africa, where -- despite 20 years of growth -- lack of structural transformation has slowed job creation and the pace of poverty reduction. Increasingly, African governments are seeking to design and implement policies to encourage the more rapid growth of high productivity industries and in the process confronting the need to engage constructively with the private sector. These efforts have met with mixed results. For sustained success in structural transformation, new policies and new approaches to government-business coordination will be needed. In 2014 the Korea International Cooperation Agency and UNU-WIDER launched a joint research project on 'The Practice of Industrial Policy'. The objective of the project was to help African policy-makers develop better coordination between the public and private sectors in order to identify the constraints to faster structural transformation and to design, implement, and monitor policies to remove them. This book, written by national researchers and international experts, presents the results of that research.

Industrial strategy has been back on the agenda of UK policy elites since the 2008 financial crisis. How should we understand this shift? This collection of essays by leading academics and practitioners including Victoria Chick, Kate Bell, Simon Lee, Karel Williams, Susan Himmelweit, Laurie Macfarlane and Ron Martin - among many others- considers the effectiveness of recent industrial policies in addressing the UK's economic malaise. In offering a broad political economy perspective on economic statecraft and development in the UK, the book focuses on the political and institutional foundations of industrial policy, the value of "foundational" economic practices, the challenge of greening capitalism and addressing regional inequalities, and the new financial and corporate governance structures required to radicalize industrial strategy.

Mapping Ghana's struggle to transform its economy after independence, this original interpretation highlights the economic difficulties associated with the political legacies of colonialism.

Industrial Policy after the Crisis provides a fresh and insightful study on the lessons that can be drawn from the global financial crisis for the analysis, definition and implementation of industrial policy.The authors utilize a political economy framework for the analysis of industrial development post-crisis, centred on the organisation of production and stressing its importance for the wealth of nations, meaning not only rising income but also 'justice and happiness'.Examining industrial policy as a long-term vision of development, this insightful study will appeal to students in industrial and business economics, political economy and development studies, as well as policymakers. Offering a reflection on the theoretical basis of policy decision making and recommendation, it will also be beneficial to scholars in the field of economics and politics.

This book examines the national automotive policy in Malaysia to help readers gain an understanding of the country’s industrial policy-making processes. Addressing a gap in analysis of the political economy of the national automotive policy, the research presented combines the new institutional theory and the developmental state approach to provide new insights into elite policymakers’ measures to shield domestic automotive enterprises from pro-market reforms. The formation of the national car project marks a turning point for Malaysia's industrial development as a country, which it envisions will lead to it becoming a major player in the global automotive market. However, the domestic institutional factors embedded in ethno-economic interests and patronage constrain national car-makers, limiting their potential to grow, and instead causing a slowdown in the industry. Allowing readers to understand the background to Malaysia’s heavy industrialisation programme and the birth of its national car projects, this book critically discusses the significance of institutional context in policy outcomes, and highlights how institutions and policies have impact growth or decline. It is a valuable resource relevant to analysts, researchers and students who are interested in the political economy of the national industrial policy and automotive industry in Malaysia and beyond.