IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/jcmkts/v61y2023i1p20-37.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The New EU Industrial Policy and Deepening Structural Asymmetries: Smart Specialisation Not So Smart

Author

Listed:
  • Angela Wigger

Abstract

In response to the 2008 financial crisis and rising competitive pressures from emerging markets, EU industrial policy has made a major comeback. One of the flagship policies is Smart Specialisation, which is located at the intersection of industrial and cohesion policy, and which serves the twin purpose of catalysing the transition of manufacturing sectors to innovative Industry 4.0‐type technologies, as well as inducing social and territorial cohesion and upward economic convergence. Employing a critical political economy perspective that accounts for the interplay between state regulation and capitalism's general dynamic of uneven and combined development, the article argues that Smart Specialisation is unlikely to lead to the proclaimed and much‐needed economic intra‐EU convergence. Although individual Smart Specialisation projects undoubtedly can lead to a technological upgrading, narrowing the gap between advanced high‐tech regions and rapidly de‐industrializing regions, or regions locked into labour‐intensive, low value‐added and less knowledge‐intensive production, remains a pipedream.

Suggested Citation

  • Angela Wigger, 2023. "The New EU Industrial Policy and Deepening Structural Asymmetries: Smart Specialisation Not So Smart," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 61(1), pages 20-37, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:jcmkts:v:61:y:2023:i:1:p:20-37
    DOI: 10.1111/jcms.13366
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/jcms.13366
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/jcms.13366?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Paulo Miguel Madeira & Mário Vale & Julián Mora-Aliseda, 2021. "Smart Specialisation Strategies and Regional Convergence: Spanish Extremadura after a Period of Divergence," Economies, MDPI, vol. 9(4), pages 1-19, September.
    2. Diego D’Adda & Donato Iacobucci & Francesco Perugini, 2022. "Smart Specialisation Strategy in practice: have regions changed the allocation of Structural Funds?," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 56(1), pages 155-170, January.
    3. Philip McCann & Raquel Ortega-Argilés, 2016. "The early experience of smart specialization implementation in EU cohesion policy," European Planning Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(8), pages 1407-1427, August.
    4. Riccardo Crescenzi & Guido de Blasio & Mara Giua, 2020. "Cohesion Policy incentives for collaborative industrial research: evaluation of a Smart Specialisation forerunner programme," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 54(10), pages 1341-1353, October.
    5. Mari José Aranguren & Edurne Magro & Mikel Navarro & James R. Wilson, 2019. "Governance of the territorial entrepreneurial discovery process: looking under the bonnet of RIS3," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 53(4), pages 451-461, April.
    6. Alberto Botta, 2014. "Structural Asymmetries at the Roots of the Eurozone Crisis: What’s New for Industrial Policy in the EU?," Economics Working Paper Archive wp_794, Levy Economics Institute.
    7. Henning Kroll, 2015. "Efforts to Implement Smart Specialization in Practice--Leading Unlike Horses to the Water," European Planning Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(10), pages 2079-2098, October.
    8. Alberto Botta, 2014. "Structural asymmetries at the roots of the eurozone crisis: what's new for industrial policy in the EU?," PSL Quarterly Review, Economia civile, vol. 67(269), pages 169-216.
    9. Karl Aiginger & Dani Rodrik, 2020. "Rebirth of Industrial Policy and an Agenda for the Twenty-First Century," Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, Springer, vol. 20(2), pages 189-207, June.
    10. Alessandro Sarra & Claudio Berardino & Davide Quaglione, 2019. "Deindustrialization and the technological intensity of manufacturing subsystems in the European Union," Economia Politica: Journal of Analytical and Institutional Economics, Springer;Fondazione Edison, vol. 36(1), pages 205-243, April.
    11. Manuel Laranja & John Edwards & Hugo Pinto & Dominique Foray, 2020. "Implementation of Smart Specialisation Strategies in Portugal: An assessment," JRC Research Reports JRC121189, Joint Research Centre.
    12. Dorothee Bohle, 2018. "European Integration, Capitalist Diversity and Crises Trajectories on Europe’s Eastern Periphery," New Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(2), pages 239-253, March.
    13. Giedrė Dzemydaitė, 2021. "The Impact of Economic Specialization on Regional Economic Development in the European Union: Insights for Formation of Smart Specialization Strategy," Economies, MDPI, vol. 9(2), pages 1-15, May.
    14. Harvey, David, 2005. "The New Imperialism," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199278084.
    15. Carlo Gianelle & Dimitris Kyriakou & Philip McCann & Kevin Morgan, 2020. "Smart Specialisation on the move: reflections on six years of implementation and prospects for the future," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 54(10), pages 1323-1327, October.
    16. Caroline Cohen, 2019. "Implementing Smart Specialisation: An analysis of practices across Europe," JRC Research Reports JRC118729, Joint Research Centre.
    17. Cutrini, Eleonora, 2019. "Economic integration, structural change, and uneven development in the European Union," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 102-113.
    18. Ugo Fratesi & Carlo Gianelle & Fabrizio Guzzo, 2021. "Assessing Smart Specialisation: Policy Implementation Measures," JRC Research Reports JRC123821, Joint Research Centre.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ron Boschma, 2022. "Evolutionary Economic Geography and Policy," Papers in Evolutionary Economic Geography (PEEG) 2220, Utrecht University, Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Group Economic Geography, revised Oct 2022.
    2. Ron Boschma, 2021. "Designing Smart Specialization Policy: relatedness, unrelatedness, or what?," Papers in Evolutionary Economic Geography (PEEG) 2128, Utrecht University, Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Group Economic Geography, revised Sep 2021.
    3. László Szerb & Raquel Ortega‐Argilés & Zoltan J. Acs & Éva Komlósi, 2020. "Optimizing entrepreneurial development processes for smart specialization in the European Union," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 99(5), pages 1413-1457, October.
    4. E. Marrocu & R. Paci & D. Rigby & S. Usai, 2020. "Smart Specialization Strategy: any relatedness between theory and practice?," Working Paper CRENoS 202004, Centre for North South Economic Research, University of Cagliari and Sassari, Sardinia.
    5. George Martinidis & Arkadiusz Dyjakon & Stanisław Minta & Rafał Ramut, 2022. "Intellectual Capital and Sustainable S3 in the Regions of Central Macedonia and Western Macedonia, Greece," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(16), pages 1-17, August.
    6. Korneliusz Pylak & Piotr Oleszczuk & Przemysław Kowalik, 2021. "Typology of Smart Specializations Across European Regions," European Research Studies Journal, European Research Studies Journal, vol. 0(Special 2), pages 503-512.
    7. Laima Gerlitz & Christopher Meyer & Christopher Meyer & Gunnar Prause & Gunnar Prause, 2020. "Methodology approach on benchmarking Regional Innovation on Smart Specialisation (RIS3): a joint macro-regional tool to regional performance evaluation and monitoring in Central Europe," Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Issues, VsI Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Center, vol. 8(2), pages 1359-1385, December.
    8. Magdalena Kogut-Jaworska & Elżbieta Ociepa-Kicińska, 2023. "Practical Implications of Smart Specialization Strategy: Barriers to Implementation, Role of the Public Sector, and Benefits for Entrepreneurs," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(2), pages 21582440231, June.
    9. Korneliusz Pylak & Tomasz Warowny, 2021. "Related Variety of Regional Smart Specialization Strategies," European Research Studies Journal, European Research Studies Journal, vol. 0(Special 2), pages 534-544.
    10. Sebastien Charles & Thomas Dallery & Jonathan Marie, 2022. "The slowing of growth in France: an interpretation based on Thirlwall’s law," Journal of Post Keynesian Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(1), pages 100-129, January.
    11. Botta, Alberto & Tippet, Ben, 2020. "The roots of a divided eurozone: rigid labour markets or asymmetric technology-macroeconomic regimes?," Greenwich Papers in Political Economy 30958, University of Greenwich, Greenwich Political Economy Research Centre.
    12. Eckhard Hein & Daniel Detzer, 2015. "Post-Keynesian Alternative Policies to Curb Macroeconomic Imbalances in the Euro Area," Panoeconomicus, Savez ekonomista Vojvodine, Novi Sad, Serbia, vol. 62(2), pages 217-236, June.
    13. Engelbert Stockhammer & Collin Constantine & Severin Reissl, 2020. "Explaining the Euro crisis: current account imbalances, credit booms and economic policy in different economic paradigms," Journal of Post Keynesian Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 43(2), pages 231-266, April.
    14. Wagener, Hans-Jürgen & Eger, Thomas, 2014. "Interne vs. externe Abwertung: Außenwirtschaftliches Ungleichgewicht im Eurosystem," Beiträge zur Jahrestagung 2014 (Goettingen) 107398, Verein für Socialpolitik, Ausschuss für Wirtschaftssysteme und Institutionenökonomik.
    15. Carlo D'Ippoliti & Maria Chiara Malaguti & Alessandro Roncaglia, 2020. "LÕUnione Europea e lÕeuro: crescere o perire," Moneta e Credito, Economia civile, vol. 73(291), pages 183-205.
    16. Claudius Gräbner & Philipp Heimberger & Jakob Kapeller, 2020. "Pandemic pushes polarisation: the Corona crisis and macroeconomic divergence in the Eurozone," Economia e Politica Industriale: Journal of Industrial and Business Economics, Springer;Associazione Amici di Economia e Politica Industriale, vol. 47(3), pages 425-438, September.
    17. Botta, Alberto & Tippet, Ben & Onaran, Özlem, 2018. "Divergence between the core and the periphery and secular stagnation in the Eurozone," Greenwich Papers in Political Economy 20405, University of Greenwich, Greenwich Political Economy Research Centre.
    18. Alberto Botta & Ben Tippet, 2020. "Secular stagnation and core-periphery uneven development in post-crisis eurozone," Working Papers PKWP2002, Post Keynesian Economics Society (PKES).
    19. Jason Deegan & Tom Broekel & Rune Dahl Fitjar, 2021. "Searching through the Haystack:The Relatedness and Complexity of Priorities in Smart Specialization Strategies," Economic Geography, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 97(5), pages 497-520, October.
    20. Michaela Trippl & Elena Zukauskaite & Adrian Healy, 2018. "Shaping Smart Specialisation: The Role of Place-Specific Factors in Advanced, Intermediate and Less-Developed European Regions," PEGIS geo-disc-2018_01, Institute for Economic Geography and GIScience, Department of Socioeconomics, Vienna University of Economics and Business.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:jcmkts:v:61:y:2023:i:1:p:20-37. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0021-9886 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.