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The Industrial Policy Revolution II pp 492–528Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

Industrial Policy and Economic Transformation in Africa: Strategies for Development and a Research Agenda

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Abstract

Discussion of industrial policy tends to generate much controversy and passion, a key reason for this being the lack of a clear and generally accepted definition of the term. In this paper, we use industrial policy to refer to any set of policies pursued by a government with the explicit goal of promoting the expansion, technological upgrading, or international competitiveness of a targeted set of economic activities. Targeting is key. The implementation of policies that improve the general environment for all economic activities (for example, a stable macroeconomic environment, a friendly private sector environment, promotion of education in general… and so on), while highly desirable and, in most cases, necessary for the successful promotion of targeted activities, are not by themselves, in our view, sufficient to constitute the existence of an industrial policy regime.

Keywords

  • Private Sector
  • Industrial Policy
  • State Capacity
  • Economic Transformation
  • Formal Employment

These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.

Assistance from Mr. Kwaku Damoah of ACET on data is gratefully acknowledged.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. African Center for Economic Transformation, Ghana

    Yaw Ansu

Authors
  1. Yaw Ansu
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University Professor, Columbia University, USA

    Joseph E. Stiglitz

  2. Honorary Dean, National School of Development, Peking University, China

    Justin Lin Yifu

  3. Minister of Economic Development, South Africa

    Ebrahim Patel

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© 2013 International Economic Association

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Ansu, Y. (2013). Industrial Policy and Economic Transformation in Africa: Strategies for Development and a Research Agenda. In: Stiglitz, J.E., Yifu, J.L., Patel, E. (eds) The Industrial Policy Revolution II. International Economic Association Series. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137335234_19

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