Transforming Economies: Making industrial policy work for growth, jobs and development

"This volume is a well-timed and comprehensive guide to how countries have used industrial policy to achieve structural transformation, raise productivity and create jobs. Crucially, the authors go beyond the sterile debate about whether governments “pick winners” and instead draw on a variety of analytical approaches to draw lessons and principles for successful industrial strategies."
Ha-Joon Chang, University of Cambridge, author of Economics: The User’s Guide

Building on a description and assessment of the contributions of different economic traditions (neoclassical, structural, institutional and evolutionary) to the analysis of policies in support of structural transformation and the generation of productive jobs, this book argues that industrial policy goes beyond targeting preferred economic activities, sectors and technologies. It also includes the challenge of accelerating learning and the creation of productive capabilities. This perspective encourages a broad and integrated approach to industrial policy. Only a coherent set of investment, trade, technology, education and training policies supported by macroeconomic, financial and labour market policies can adequately respond to the myriad challenges of learning and structural transformation faced by countries aiming at achieving development objectives.

The book contains analyses of national and sectoral experiences in Costa Rica, the Republic of Korea, India, Brazil, China, South Africa, sub-Saharan Africa and the United States. Practical lessons and fundamental principles for industrial policy design and implementation are distilled from the country case studies. Given the fact that many countries today engage in industrial policy, this collection of contributions on theory and practice can be helpful to policy-makers and practitioners in making industrial policy work for growth, jobs and development.

Co-edited by UNCTAD.