This book challenges the established, neoclassical view of industrial success in developing countries. By re-examining the role of government intervention in the industrialization of Brazil and South Korea, it seeks to show that the key to industrial success does not lie in a simple combination of outward-orientation and laissez-faire, but in the government's success in remedying crucial market failures in the product and factor markets.
What are the underlying rationales for industrial policy? Does empirical evidence support the use of industrial policy for correcting market failures that plague the process of industrialization? To address these questions, the authors provide a critical survey of the analytical literature on industrial policy. They also review some recent industry successes and argue that only a limited role was played by public interventions. Moreover, the recent ascendance of international industrial networks, which dominate the sectors in which less developed countries have in the past had considerable success, implies a further limitation on the potential role of industrial policies as traditionally understood. Overall, there appears to be little empirical support for an activist government policy even though market failures exist that can, in principle, justify the use of industrial policy.
The accelerating pace of global change demands that economies must be adaptable. Economies which are flexible flourish, as in Eastern Asia. Inflexible economies stagnate, as in Eastern Europe and Africa. However even though adaptability governs the long-term progress of economies, economists have had little to say about the nature and determinants of economic flexibility. This book redresses that situation. A prestigious team of contributors address the key theoretical and empirical issues, using a wide range of country studies.
China is the world’s largest ICT exporter, having overtaken Japan, the European Union and the United States, and China’s ICT industry is the largest manufacturing sector within the Chinese economy. This book examines how China has attained this leading position in one of the most capital and high technology intensive industries.
This is a collection of papers on industrial policy - the role of governments in promoting industrial development - and the particular significance of technology development. Two essays deal with the general debate on industrial policy and the nature of technology development; two are critical appraisals of the World Bank's approach to the debate on governments and markets; four are case studies of policy making on aspects of industrialisation, three in Asia and one in Africa.
In 2019, African heads of state and governments launched in fanfare the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), a historic agreement for economic transformation across the continent. But now comes the hard bit: how to make the agreement a success? In this book, senior experts from across the world come together to provide a comprehensive analysis of the conditions needed for AfCFTA to successfully spur economic development in Africa. It puts forward three foundations for success: demography dividend, digital economy, and economic diversification. In addition to trade policy, the book recommends that African policymakers should strengthen fiscal and monetary policy coordination, adopt and implement the appropriate regulatory environment, and build suitable connectivity infrastructure. The stakes are high. If implemented correctly, the book argues that AfCFTA could speed up trade within Africa, which could double every five years. Success would mean growth, investment, changing trade patterns, jobs, economic transformation, poverty reduction, and a continental market for services. Driven by concrete, evidence-based strategies for long-term growth, this book is an essential read for policy makers, development practitioners, economics researchers, and everyone with an interest in the future of Africa.
Free trade lies at the heart of the new era of globalization. This is a review of the history of 20th-century trade agreements, tracing what happened to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) before the USA pushed the world into the Uruguay Round. This renegotiation of the rules of international trade, enshrined in the World Trade Organisation agreements, is now taking free trade much further than ever before. The author examines the benefits and hidden costs of the WTO Agreements, their implications for weaker economies and their likely consequences in terms of environmental protection, labour standards and political sovereignty. Alternatives do exist, he argues, to an over-reliance on free trade. These include managed trade, fair trade and self-reliant trade. He also sets out a series of innovative proposals for reforming the WTO, IMF and World Bank.
Industrial policy has long been regarded as a strategy to encourage sector-, industry-, or economy-wide development by the state. It has been central to competitiveness, catching up, and structural change in both advanced and developing countries. "The Oxford Handbook of Industrial Policy" presents a comprehensive review of and a novel approach to the conceptual and theoretical foundations of industrial policy, providing analytical perspectives on how industrial policy connects to broader issues of development strategy, macro-economic policies, infrastructure development, human capital, political economy, green economy, and shifts in the twenty-first century. The chapters offer valuable lessons and policy insights to policymakers, practitioners and researchers in the field.
