Industriepolitik als Motor einer Qualitätsstrategie mit gesellschaftlicher Perspektive

We are experiencing a renewed interest in manufacturing and industrial policy. This is a response to the shrinking world market shares of industrialized countries and China's emergence as the largest industrial nation, as well as to the slower recovery of countries with a low share of industry and a high current account deficit in the wake of the crisis. At the same time, there is a consensus that industrial policy must be designed in a fundamentally different way than it has been up to now. There are three stages to the development of the ‘new industrial policy’: First, it must not be an isolated policy division, but rather systemic – e.g. it must cooperate closely with innovation and education policy. Second, it must take into account the knowledge limitations of the policy agents and industrial policy must be understood as a discovery process. Third, following the findings of the WWWforEurope (Welfare, Wealth and Work for Europe) project, it must take into account societal goals in the sense of ‘Beyond GDP’ indicators. This requires an ambitious strategy, particularly for countries with high per capita income. We call this strategy ‘high road competitiveness’ or ‘quality strategy’. Industrial policy must not be misused in order to cement a low-wage sector and resist strict environmental standards. A ‘low road strategy’ would also be inconsistent with long-term business interests.