ABSTRACT
In this chapter, we review research on state–business relations and develop an agenda for studying how state–business relations contribute to broader outcomes in the sustainable development era. We start by clarifying different meanings of state and business, notions of power, and development. We then review key themes in the existing scholarship on state–business relations in development: the developmental state, patterns of embedded autonomy, aspiring 21st-century developmental states, the deals framework, and formal versus informal institutions. We find the scholarship has focused mainly on how formal state–business relations affect economic outcomes and has paid little attention to other dimensions of development. We therefore outline a more complete research agenda which focuses on outcomes beyond economic growth and analytically foregrounds negotiation to illuminate the processes (agency, patterns of exchange, ideas and ideologies) and the structures (power and resources, formal and informal institutions) that shape development.
