ABSTRACT
This chapter highlights the crucial role of industrial policy in enhancing the overall economic conditions of Italy, and it also addresses the structural weaknesses of the southern regions of Italy. As is well known, “industrial policy” refers to the complex of policy measures aimed at enhancing the economic competitiveness of a country/area by improving its productive capabilities. In the neoliberal era, with the intervention of the state reduced to a minimum and economic policy simply understood as removal of all possible obstacles to the smooth functioning of market forces, the place of industrial policy has been taken by deregulation, privatization, competition policy and labour market flexibility. In a constructive and normative manner, this chapter discusses in detail the main issues that could and should be addressed by means of industrial policies in Italy: research policy, education and training, technological transfer, logistics, and network service. In particular, it intends to stress that industrial policy is not merely the sum of different measures aimed at either fostering specific sectors or enhancing the public production of strategic goods. Rather, industrial policy should be conceived of as a comprehensive ability to take the political and institutional context in a direction that is conducive to economic growth by building a structure of cooperation among the different private and public agents that compose the economy.
