Industrial policy in the economic literature: Recent theoretical developments and implications for EU policy

Summary:

Economic theory on ‘industrial policy’ is not to be found in a single and coherent body of work. This can be partly explained by the difficulty of economists to agree on a definition of the concept of industrial policy. However, the last decade has seen a strong resurgence of literature in a series of areas closely linked to industry such as innovation, economic growth, technological progress, entrepreneurship or public policy. At the risk of oversimplification, this paper attempts to provide a brief overview of the main ideas from this recent literature and its policy implications.