Market failures provide a rationale for policy intervention. But policies are often hard to alter once in place. We argue that this inertia can result in well-intended policies having sizable negative long-run effects on aggregate output and productivity. In our theory, financial frictions...

This paper discusses a possible case for industrial policy with special reference to the two emerging global giants, China and India. It begins with a clarification of the meaning of industrial policy, since not only does the term mean different things to different people, but the traditional...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine changes in manufacturing agglomeration in a small open economy over the last decade. This is done during a time when manufacturing in most developed countries is in relative decline. Design/methodology/approach – This work adapts the...

An extensive literature argues that India’s manufacturing sector has underperformed, and that the country has failed to industrialize; in particular, it has failed to take advantage of its labor–abundant comparative advantage. India’s manufacturing sector is smaller as a share of GDP than...

We estimate the effect on economic development of China's industrial policy, in particular, the establishment of Special Economic Zones (SEZ). We use data from a panel of 276 Chinese cities and prefectures from 1988 to 2010. Our difference-in-difference estimator exploits the variation in the...

Industrial policy has recently seen a renewed interest at both the political and the theoretical level, and has been much debated. This paper argues that an important research issue to address now is what industrial policy should be implemented, namely what set of instruments are to be applied...

Although it is little known at least among economists, central banks in industrial countries became involved with industry in the past and particularly after the First World War. This was at least the case in Italy and Britain where central banks provided long-term finance to ailing firms and...

Indonesia has come a long way in improving its tax system over the last decade, both in terms of revenues raised and administrative efficiency. Nonetheless, the tax take is still low, given the need for more spending on infrastructure and social protection. With the exception of the natural...

The industrial policy of a country can be seen as a combination between two different areas of play: the room allowed for by the international economic community, and the achievements of the domestic policy-makers, also in view of the preferences of the domestic voters. This approach calls for...

This article deal with the dualistic nature of the Italy System and its evolution from the 1950s to the present day, arguing that it went through a prolonged stage as essential leverage for the economy as a whole to achieve rapid development, and that as from the mid-1970s it progressively...