Industrial Policy and Development: The Political Economy of Capabilities Accumulation

In the 1990s, development policy advocated by international financial institutions was influenced by Washington Consensus thinking. This strategy, based largely on liberalization, privatization, and price-flexibility, downplayed, if not disregarded, the role of government in steering the processes of technological learning and economic growth. With the exception of the Far East, many developing countries adopted the view that industrial policy resulted in inefficiency and poor economic growth. Ample historical evidence shows that industrial policy does work, when the right technologies and industries are supported and when appropriate combinations of policy measures are implemented. This book provides an in-depth exploration of which industrial policies have been successful, the trade-offs associated with these microeconomic approaches to growth and development, and the opportunities and constraints associated with the current organization of international economic relations. Contributors to this volume - Mario Cimoli, Economic Commission for Latin America and the Carribean (ECLAC) and University of Venice Giovanni Dosi, LEM Pisa and University of Manchester Joseph E. Stiglitz, Columbia University Richard R. Nelson, Carolina Castaldi, Utrecht University Nelson Correa, ECLAC Erik S. Reinert, Norway and Tallinn University of Technology Michele Di Maio, University of Macerata Yilmaz Akyuz, Former Director UNCTAD Wilson Peres, ECLAC Jose Gabriel Palma, University of Cambridge Bernardo Kosakoff, Director ECLAC Adrian Ramos, ECLAC Antonio Barros de Castro, BNDES Ajit Singh, University of Cambridge Carl J. Dahlman, Georgetown University Mushtaq H. Khan, SOAS, University of London Stephanie Blankenburg, SOAS, University of London Roberto Mazzoleni, Hofstra University Alice H. Amsden Colin Mayer, University of Oxford Mario L. Possas, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro Heloisa L. Borges, IE/UFRJ Mike Hobday, University of Sussex Fernando Afonso de Barros Perini, University of Sussex Benjamin Coriat, Universite de Paris 13 Annalisa Primi, ECLAC, United Nations