ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses industrial policy concepts and theory within a global comparative context. It reviews industrial policy objectives are related to the strategies of multinational enterprises, national industrial policies, and explains their economic and social outcomes. Industrial policy is the use by government of state authority and resources to promote the aggregate wealth of a society, maximize efficient use of its resources, among industries and social groups, and enhance the quality of life. Conceptually, industrial policy comprises goals, domains, instruments, structures, capabilities, strategies and outcomes. Industrial policy strategies which include substantial elements of planning in the allocation of resources must decide what a “foreign” firm is and whether it should receive any benefits. Industrial policymakers establish goals for their countries, either possession goals or milieu goals. The most basic contrast in industrial policy goals reflects differences in levels of economic development.
