THE SCIENTIFIC PREMISES OF INDUSTRIAL POLICY: INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE

Abstract

The article discusses the viewpoints of international scholars as to the scientific premises of industrial policy. The industrial policy concept has revealed a wide variety in its understanding. The study provides insights into the evolution of scientific thought and the development of scholarly approaches to understanding of the above concept in the USA and Europe, the most developed economies in the world, where economic theory has been underpinned by considerable scientific debate. The paper offers an ‘industrial policy’ term definition based on the key economic trends and the share of government intervention into industry development. To address the research agenda, a comparative approach and an analytic interpretation method were employed that allowed for identifying the differences in factors that had affected the background for elaborating a range of scientific concepts. The study explores extensive theoretical endeavors all over the world for understanding the industrial policy concept which demonstrates ample scientific discussion on the role of government in economic processes. The fundamental rationale for generalizing the variety of research studies is the compehension of the relationship between economic processes and the government policy in the economy domain. Such approach incorporates the government paternalism towards industry development (embedded in the neoclassical studies of American economists and neoliberal interpretations of the governance function in the industrial sector) and building a competitive economy by enhancing production incentives in a free market environment. The research findings have identified two key vectors in the scientific viewpoints of international scholars, i. e. "vertical" and "horizontal" understanding of the industrial policy concept. The former vector reflects the economic ideology of paternalism, built on protectionism, while the latter demonstrates a neoliberal approach based on industrial sector competitiveness. The implications for further research are outlined as investigating correlations of the effects from government involvement and market factors in a competitive environment.