The European Commission’s New Industrial Policy in an Integrating and Globalizing World

The European Commission has launched a new industrial policy for Europe in October 2005. While manufacturing industry remains a key building block of the European economy, it faces a number of challenges—as well as opportunities—in the form of rapid technological change; increasing trade and financial integration of the world economy; and the rise of new emerging market competitors. Whilst some sectors are performing strongly, the overall industrial structure of the EU economy makes it less than ideally positioned to face these challenges. The new industrial policy articulated by the Commission is to help the European economy adapt to the new circumstances. In contrast to old policies that sought to ‘pick winners’, the new approach starts from the screening of horizontal policies and framework conditions in terms of their implications for specific industrial sectors. Second, the Commission has integrated policy by bringing more closely together different policy dimensions of key relevance to various industries. Finally, the industrial policy attempts to achieve a greater consensus over policy, through the involvement at an early stage of key stakeholders and Member States in policy making.     

The meaning of German unification

Like most experiments, the merger of Germany will likely be messy. But in time, a united Germany will emerge that is an industrial and technological powerhouse like nothing Europe has seen before.     

Industrial Policy in the New Member Countries of the European Union: A Survey of Patterns and Initiatives Since 1990

The transitional recession in the new Central and East European members of the EU called for completely novel approaches to industrial policy in the nineties. A strong rejection of industrial policy could be observed only in some countries and during the first years of the transition process. Subsequently however, deteriorating competitiveness, soaring unemployment and the dramatic condition of key export sectors made the re-appearance of supply-side economic policy thinking inevitable in most Central East European Countries (CEECs), except for such small and open economies as Slovenia and Estonia. A wide variety of industrial policies implemented in the CEECs are compared in the study, with special emphasis on tools used in order to promote incoming foreign direct investment, technological development and the small and medium-sized enterprise sector. These elements of the industrial policy toolkit will keep their key role in most CEECs, albeit their industrial policies will gradually align themselves to the European mainstream.     

Industriepolitik 2.0

Europe is a long-run success model in a mid-life crisis. In the wake of the financial crisis, European growth has been low, unemployment is high and income disparity has increased - developments that have resulted in less support for the European project, manifested in populism and Brexit. The best answer to the current problems is a new strategy based on new drivers of growth and “Beyond GDP” goals, as proposed in the WWWforEurope project. A new industrial policy would be an important part of the new European strategy. It has to be systemic, working in alignment with competition, energy and innovation policy, and it must support social and ecological goals instead of calling for cheap labour or energy as a precondition for success. High ecological standards will lead to a competitive advantage for Europe in technologies that will become all-important if the Paris 2015 goal of decarbonisation is implemented. A European technology lead in low-carbon technologies, energy efficiency and renewables constitutes a core part of a new industrial policy that can help Europe end its mid-life crisis. It should be implemented in a European-wide dialogue with industry and citizens.     

我国产业技术创新能力的若干思考

中国产业发展的关键是提高产业技术创新能力。我国技术创新所处的新环境对技术创新能力提出很大的挑战,而科技水平不高和创新机制不完善说明了我国产业技术创新能力还不高,与发达国家还有很大的差距,从而提出了现阶段提高我国产业技术创新能力的对策。     

Die Erwartungen der Industrie für 2014

The overall economic situation in 2013 showed less momentum than predicted. In particular, exports grew slowly — as did global trade on the whole. The economic environment was difficult in the aftermath of the public debt and currency crisis in the euro zone. This is reflected in most of the industrial sectors. The construction industry is less dependent on exports than on weather, which reduced production last winter. Meanwhile, the automotive industry grew at an above average rate. The outlook for 2014 finds all industries predicting better performance than in 2013, but there are obstacles due to German policy — the renewable energy act is one of them, as Utz Tillmann of the chemical industry points out. Klaus Mittelbach also looks critically at the turnaround in the German energy policy, but he hopes that the electronics industry will benefit from technological requirements.     

皖江城市带科学承接产业转移研究

皖江城市带在承接产业转移过程中面临诸多威胁因素,这些因素会导致皖江地区承接的产业大部分是东部地区濒临淘汰的落后产业。通过建立一个简单的博弈模型,分析了污染型企业与转入区政府之间的博弈行为,证明了类似于污染企业等淘汰型产业有进入转入区的潜在动力。为促进皖江城市带产业转入区科学承接产业转移,构建了相应的制约模型,认为即使引进了污染型企业,只要政府对污染企业设定的威胁政策是可信的,博弈的结果会使污染企业进行技术改造,从而使污染企业移入带来的环境损失降到最低。     

Participation Versus Social Exclusion

The different experience of unemployment and of poverty in the two main Western economic systems (roughly, Europe and the US) demonstrates that a simple economic approach to these problems does not exist. In this paper I deal with the question of the impact of technological change on productive activities, employment and income distribution.The main idea is the following: technological progress may lead to an impoverishment of the disadvantaged people in a free-market society, as a consequence of their inability to adjust their skills to the new requirements of the labour market. By contrast, a just society, grounded on moral principles, recognizes that the distributive criterion has to take into account not only individual contributions to production, but also the relative needs of the individuals. In that context, everyone should be better off after a technological change, since it is fair that everyone gains some advantage from a generalized improvement in the productive conditions of society. A policy that adopts this perspective should provide an effective guard against the danger of social exclusion that strikes modern societies.     

政策协调、产业结构升级及宏观经济效应分析

不同模式的宏观政策协调不但会对产业结构优化产生差异性影响,也会影响产业结构优化带来的宏观经济效应。本文在新凯恩斯框架下构建理论模型,并基于贝叶斯参数估计和数值模拟分析政策协调对产业结构优化以及宏观经济效应的影响。研究发现:数量型货币政策比价格型货币政策更有利于产业结构优化,收入型财政政策比支出型财政政策更有利于产业结构优化;价格型货币政策和收入型财政政策的政策协调更有利于产业结构优化对消费、就业和产出的促进作用,数量型货币政策和支出型财政政策的政策协调更有利于产业结构优化对通货膨胀的稳定作用;货币政策对产业结构优化升级这一目标与稳定经济波动这一目标存在着Trade Off现象,财政政策对产业结构优化升级这一目标与促进经济增长这一目标存在着Trade Off现象。因此,建议采取货币政策为主、财政政策为辅的宏观经济调控政策,具体操作体现在减息为主结合降低税率水平为辅的政策协调组合来应对经济增速下滑和产业结构升级。     

Industrial policy,structural transformation and economic growth: Evidence from China

Industrial policy is an important means for governments to promote industrial development and accelerate economic growth. This paper mainly uses the Chinese Law and Regulation Database as the source of the relevant laws and regulations of China’s industrial policies from 2003 to 2015. On this basis, it empirically examines the impact of industrial policies on economic growth. The study finds that China’s industrial policy has significant positive effects on economic growth and that industrial structure rationalization is an important channel of industrial policy to improve economic growth. The findings are also valid under a series of robustness tests and endogenous corrections. The results of heterogeneity tests confirm that there are heterogeneous effects pertaining to industrial policy on economic growth among different subregional areas, administrative levels, industrial development stages, and industrial policy types. Overall, this paper supports the hypothesis that industrial policy has positive effects on economic growth and, accordingly, provides a basis for industrial policy implementation.     

Business-Government Partnership in Nigeria

ABSTRACT

This study critically examines the role of multinational corporations in the global competitiveness of Nigeria. The primary purpose is to make a modest contribution to the debate on Nigeria's competitiveness in the emerging global economy. This study recommends the redefinition of national development goals and reorientation of the focus of MNCs toward such goals. Future industrial policy will need to address the following areas: (1) Promoting competitiveness, especially improving technological capabilities in a market economy; (2) Shifting the incentive structure strongly towards export orientation; (3) Helping import-substituting industries to restructure and upgrade their technologies and skills; (4) Investing in infrastructure, education, training and technological support services; and (5) Promoting regional cooperation to enlarge markets.     

实施节约优先的国家能源战略

改革开放后的二十多年,我国在提高经济效益方面取得了令人瞩目的成绩,但同时,高耗能产业快速成长,居民消费结构升级以及高耗能产品、低效能生产能力淘汰迟缓,使能源消费总量快速扩张,导致能源、资源的对外依存度迅速上升,生产要素低价格政策和环境监管不到位又提供了一种资源依赖型发展环境,这使我国站在了一个发展的十字路口。节约能源必须发展清洁能源,使能源结构得到改善和升级;要通过法律约束、政策导向和经济激励等手段,推动大范围采用节能装备、节能建筑和节能产品,进而发展循环经济,提高能源的转换效率。改善产业结构和提高能源效率,必须使各市场主体的行为主要受经济力量的驱动,使政府的政策包括价格、技术标准、政策法规、经济激励等措施通过市场起作用,并着重建立全社会的节能环保机制。     

From Industrial to Innovation Policy

Industrial policy has been a cornerstone of economic policy in Europe after the world war and the transformation of basic industries like coal and steel were key issues at the beginning of European integration. In the 1970s and 1990s industrial policy shifted toward support of high-tech industries. In the seventies the importance of a more systemic view came up, policy had to address the specific weaknesses of the innovation system. The Lisbon agenda finally combines competitiveness with social and environmental goals. Industry plays an important role in generating welfare and industrial policy is in different forms and sorts back, high on the agenda.     

我国电子商务环境下的移动支付问题研究

移动支付是在交易活动中以手机作为支付手段,即将手机与信用卡号码链接起来通过手机代替信用卡来支付交易费用,它具有方便、安全、成本低廉等优势,但目前的消费观念、技术支持、利益分配、手续繁杂等多种因素制约了移动支付的快速发展。我国移动支付在现有技术条件下主要有虚拟支付和移动现场支付两种基本模式。移动支付提供商应着力于创新商业模式,实现产业共赢;正确定位,积极开发市场;强化技术支撑,确保交易安全;加强行业协同,规避政策风险;利用新技术,抢占新市场。     

The White Paper on Growth,Competitiveness and Employment and Greek Small and Medium Sized Enterprises

This paper makes an assessment of the homo-genous approach and policy measures towards SMEs, adopted by the White Paper on Growth, Competitiveness and Employment and by national policies in Greece. It is demonstrated that there is a key distinction between the structure of competitive, high-tech, highly-specialized SMEs in advanced countries, whose size is determined by the size of the international niche market where they compete, on the one hand and on the other, SMEs in Greece or in other less developed member-states, whose (micro) size is determined by the local markets they serve, while in most cases they do not have the marketing skills/approach to address export markets. Copying successful instruments for SMEs in advanced countries can thus be most dangerous for the less developed countries, since the industrial organization of the typical SME is very different from those SMEs in Northern Europe. Therefore, the effects of policy measures, without further modifications, will be different from those envisioned by the EU policy-makers. Increasing the utilization of assistance by SMEs in less developed member-states is likely to be more effective if the assistance focuses on incentives and services, which support cooperative action in local and foreign markets, rather than on direct SME financing.     

Japanese subcontracting at a crossroads

This paper examines the economic role of small business in Japan in the classic model of subcontracting vis-à-vis the novel model of networking. The Japanese economy can be characterized by an extensive system of subcontracting. There is an intensively elaborated point of focus on this Japanese approach to the technological and managerial aspects of subcontracting outside of Japan. Small and medium sized enterprises and big enterprises, in their endeavour to be effective and efficient, determine the characteristics of this system of industrial production. The characteristics of the subcontracting system in Japan are undergoing structural changes. The requirements concerning an accelerating technological expertise and marketing know-how of subcontracting firms will be adduced as a motive for the rapid industrial restructuring.     

The liberalisation of air transport: Lessons from the USA

The planned liberalisation of European air transport has run up against the problem that there is little scope for further expansion of airport infrastructure. If liberalisation is to be a success, the available infrastructure will have to be used more intensively. This means introducing efficient procedures for awarding take-off and landing slots in Europe. The policy pursued hitherto in Germany and the EC and lessons from the USA do not nurture hopes that the liberalisation of European air transport will be a huge success.     

中国高新科技园区的产业集群发展战略研究

中国自1985年设立第一个科技园区———深圳科技工业园开始,到目前已有53个国家级科技园区,此外还有一大批省级高新区。虽然园区的发展为经济增长做出了巨大贡献,但多数园区入园企业的非集群化已成为制约我国高新科技园区发展的最大技术创新障碍。为加速我国高新技术园区发展必须实行产业集群导向发展战略,实现园区由“政策区”:即赋予一定区域发展高新技术企业(并非特定产业)的优惠政策向“功能区”(向鼓励特定产业形成集群)政策的转变。     

SME Clusters, Acquisition of Technological Capabilities and Development: Concepts, Practice and Policy Lessons

The paper contributes to the current policy debate about promoting regional economic growth and competitiveness of small and medium industrial enterprises in development. An analytical framework is elaborated, which integrates complementary insights from existing approaches that have been used as a basis for policy design in this area. These are: the meso-level collective efficiency approach and the micro-level technological capability approach. The new framework gives insight into the different ways in which firm-level technological learning could be fostered through geographical clustering. It also provides new directions for policy. An empirical case study of farm equipment manufacturing in Pakistan's Punjab Province is used to illustrate the added value of the new approach.     

Financial Instruments and Promotional Banking in the EU are Growing — But is this Justified?

Institutions and the European Investment Bank are at the forefront of EU investment policy. Their role is expanding and it is now a widely-held position that an improvement in the economy will not eliminate the need for their intervention. The proposals for the 2021–2027 MFF launch more financial instruments and present ‘InvestEU’ as a larger more powerful version of the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI). However, promotional banking is often misunderstood and so is the actual size of promotional banking in Europe in which InvestEU will operate.