La industria en Colombia: tres décadas sin política sectorial -consecuencias sobre empleo e ingresos en el sector-

This article seeks to establish the relationship between public policy related to the industry, -that has been made since the late 80's in Colombia- and its consequences on both the productive configuration and in the workers laboring in the sector. The results show the absence of an active industrial policy by governments around the period and, on the contrary, the emphasis on a cross strategy to introduce science and technology to processes. However, the analysis shows that this purpose was only in the title as they were not taken specific actions to achieve it. Following in consequence, the national pattern of growth was de-industrialized. The impacts were negative for workers: reduction in manufacturing employment related to total employment, relative stagnation of real wages to labor productivity growth and widening gap in the appropriation of the surplus generated. The industrial production structure was transformed into a higher intensity in mining related activities, to the detriment of knowledge intensive, contrary to what the official strategy preached. Finally, economic policy proposed by the government of President Juan Manuel Santos in his first term was not oriented to change these long-term trends