Industrial Policy in Context: building blocks for an integrated and comparative political economy agenda

Abstract

This article introduces the special issue Frontiers of Industrial Policy by assessing the recent academic and policy debates and pointing to the need for a renewed industrial policy agenda centred on the structure-institution-policy nexus. We argue that this agenda should be informed by historical studies revealing the context-specific dynamics of production transformation. Second, we argue that it should address industrial, technical and market-related issues, as much as the political economy of production transformation. Third, we suggest a more holistic view of industrial policy. In particular we stress the importance of framing industrial policy within a more holistic framework whereby the pervasive role that industrial policy plays across several policy domains can be better understood. We finally introduce the articles in the special issue and highlight their different, albeit complementary, contributions to this agenda.