Policy Brief
Industrial Policy for Development

New challenges and emerging paradigms have turned industrialization and industrial policy into one of the most hotly debated and interesting issues of the early twenty-first century. Both the role of manufacturing in economic development and the contributions of industrial policy are contested. In this Policy Brief we argue that the economic development of emerging economies still requires a type of industrialization that can deliver high-quality employment, that is aligned with the international division of labour, and that would not lead to autarky, or a reversal of global gains in establishing openness in trade. Industrial policy can make valuable contributions in this regard if the lessons of the past and the challenges of the future are sufficiently taken into consideration.