The Political Economy of Industrial Policy

Abstract

We examine the ways in which political realities shape industrial policy through the lens of modern political economy. We consider two broad “governance constraints”: (1) the political forces that shape how industrial policy is chosen and (2) the ways in which state capacity affects implementation. The framework of modern political economy suggests that government failure is not a necessary feature of industrial policy; rather, it is more likely to fail when countries pursue industrial policies beyond their governance capacity constraints. As such, our political economy of industrial policy is not fatalist. Instead, it enables policymakers to constructively confront challenges.