ABSTRACT
The longer-term development of capitalist economies is based upon an evolving division of labour. The role of economic policy in that process has always been a contentious issue. This overview explores some of the features explaining the changing relationship between policy and performance, especially in the field of microeconomic policy aimed at stimulating industrial competitiveness-a branch of policy that has come to embrace not just industry policy but also science and technology policy (as discussed further by Margaret Sharp in Chapter 19) and, increasingly, regional policy.
