The Rejuvenation of Industrial Policy

This essay is about an important area in which there has been major rethinking -- industrial policy, by which the authors mean government policies directed at affecting the economic structure of the economy. The standard argument was that markets were efficient, so there was no need for government to intervene either in the allocation of resources across sectors or in the choices of technique. And even if markets were not efficient, governments were not likely to improve matters. But the 2008-2009 global financial crisis showed that markets were not necessarily efficient and, indeed, there was a broad consensus that without strong government intervention -- which included providing lifelines to certain firms and certain industries -- the market economies of the United States and Europe may have collapsed. Today, the relevance and pertinence of industrial policies are acknowledged by mainstream economists and political leaders from all sides of the ideological spectrum. But what exactly is industrial policy? Why has it raised so much controversy and confusion? What is the compelling new rationale that seems to bring mainstream economists to acknowledge the crucial importance of industrial policy and revisit some of the fundamental assumptions of economic theory and economic development? How can industrial policy be designed to avoid the pitfalls of some of the seeming past failures and to emulate some of the past successes? What are the contours of the emerging consensus and remaining issues and open questions? The paper addresses these questions.

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Stiglitz, Joseph E., Lin, Justin Yifu, Monga, Célestin
Language:English
en_US
Published: World Bank, Washington, DC 2013-09
Subjects:ADVERSE EFFECTS, AGRICULTURE, ALLOCATION, ALLOWANCES, ASYMMETRIC INFORMATION, BANKRUPTCY, BANKS, BENCHMARKING, BEST PRACTICES, CAPITAL INVESTMENTS, CLIMATE, CLIMATE CHANGE, COMPARATIVE ADVANTAGE, COMPETITIVENESS, CONSUMERS, COUNTRY CASE, DEBT, DEREGULATION, DEVELOPED COUNTRIES, DEVELOPING COUNTRIES, DEVELOPING COUNTRY, DEVELOPING WORLD, DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS, DEVELOPMENT GOALS, DEVELOPMENT POLICY, DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES, DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, ECONOMIC DIVERSIFICATION, ECONOMIC EFFICIENCY, ECONOMIC FUNCTIONS, ECONOMIC GROWTH, ECONOMIC IMPLICATIONS, ECONOMIC POLICY, ECONOMIC RESEARCH, ECONOMIC STRUCTURE, ECONOMIC STUDIES, ECONOMIC THEORY, ECONOMIC WELFARE, EXCHANGE RATE, EXCHANGE RATE POLICY, EXPORTS, EXTERNALITIES, FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, FINANCIAL AID, FINANCIAL BURDEN, FINANCIAL CRISIS, FINANCIAL MARKETS, FINANCIAL RESOURCES, FINANCIAL SECTOR, FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT, FOREIGN EXCHANGE, FREE MARKETS, GLOBAL ECONOMY, GOOD GOVERNANCE, GROWTH RATES, HIGH GROWTH, IMPORT SUBSTITUTION, INCOME, INCOME LEVELS, INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT, INDUSTRIAL POLICY, INDUSTRIALIZATION, INFANT INDUSTRY ARGUMENT, INTEREST RATE, INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS, INTERNATIONAL TRADE, JOBS, LAWS, LEARNING, LEGAL FRAMEWORK, LEGAL FRAMEWORKS, LOW-INCOME COUNTRIES, MACROECONOMIC POLICIES, MARGINAL COST, MARKET ECONOMY, MARKET FAILURE, MARKET FAILURES, MINISTER, MONOPOLY, OPPORTUNITY COST, PER CAPITA INCOME, POLICY PERSPECTIVE, POLICY RESEARCH, POLITICAL ECONOMY, POLITICAL LEADERS, PREFERENTIAL, PREFERENTIAL ACCESS, PRIVATIZATION, PROCUREMENT, PRODUCTION FUNCTION, PUBLIC GOOD, PUBLIC POLICIES, PUBLIC POLICY, RESOURCE ALLOCATION, SCIENTISTS, SMALL BUSINESS, STATE ENTERPRISES, STRUCTURAL CHANGE, SUBSTITUTION, TAX CODES, TAX EXPENDITURES, TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION, TECHNOLOGICAL PROGRESS, TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER, TRADE POLICY, TREASURY BILLS, UNDERVALUED EXCHANGE RATE, WAGES, WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION,
Online Access:http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2013/09/18324250/rejuvenation-industrial-policy
https://hdl.handle.net/10986/16845
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