ABSTRACT
This chapter explains the development of industrial and technology policy against the background of the Basque Country's specific industrial and political history. The political culture, can be characterised as being short on collaborative attitudes, lacking open participatory approaches in policy-making, and being dominated by political party-based lobbying and manipulation. The cluster approach, however, provided a more systematic basis for a sector-oriented structural policy. The concept of clusters had been introduced by Porter through his influential work on the competitiveness of nations'. Technology policy took off at the regional level in the early 1980s, with specific support for high-tech applications in mature as well as emerging' sectors. The industrial restructuring initiatives resulted in massive investments geared to the modernisation of the sectors which had been hit especially by competition from South-East Asia. While the changes in policy-making are impressive, and provide guidelines for other regions.
