European industrial policy: a comparative perspective

This chapter examines industrial policy implemented in European countries across time, especially after WWII and in recent years. It briefly shows that industrialisation never occurs without strong supporting industrial policy, providing the enabling conditions for the deep structural changes involved, such as infrastructure and capabilities, especially human capital. Industrialisation in the 18th and 19th centuries is associated to the creation and consolidation of Nation States, leading to national perspectives on industrial development and industrial policy, at the expense of regional imbalances. After WWII, the chapter identifies three phases of industrial policy: strong and selective intervention in the first three decades of the period, market-led approaches in the 1980s and 1990s, and a return of more interventionism at the turn of the century. With globalisation and the emerging new technological paradigm of Industry 4.0, innovation and skills, as well as the territorial roots of industrial development seem to be important aspects of industrial policy today. The chapter also argues that the multilevel governance policy framework has to adapt to current disruptions, particularly in Europe.