Workshop: Rethinking Innovation and Industrial Policy

Join the EI and the SSEES Centre for Comparative Study of Emerging Economies for the workshop 'Rethinking Innovation and Industrial Policy for European Periphery and Catching-up Economies'.
Friday, 23 February 2018, 10am-6pm

The demise of Washington Consensus and the emergence of new policy philosophies ranging from mission-oriented public policies, new structural economics , productive development policies, neo-Schumpeterian, Schumpeterian industrial policies, and EU Smart specialization  have radically changed our thinking on industrial and innovation policy. The meaning, rationale, context and objectives of industrial policy seem to have changed so that the old views on industrial policy have become a kind of straw man, masking rather than revealing its challenges. The experimentalist nature of new industrial policy approaches and the globalized context in which they are implemented call for new forms of governance which seems to be incompatible with traditional perspectives on state and industrial policy. Besides, the boundaries of industrial policy have become indistinguishable from innovation policy, FDI and other productive capacities enhancing policies (skills and training, education, trade, etc.).  

The current situation calls for a re-examination of the past policy approaches within their historical context, and an assessment of the newly emerging approaches. The workshop is prompted by a new book edited by Slavo Radosevic, Adrian Curaj, Radu Gheorghiu, Liviu Andreescu and Imogen Wade (eds)(2017) Advances in the Theory and Practice of Smart Specialization, Elsevier Science Publishers, which explores using a comparative perspective the EU's Smart Specialization policy as an example of what is probably the biggest experiment in innovation policy in the world today. 

The workshop aims to further our understanding of the challenges in design, objectives, and implementation of industrial policies as they relate to different political economies of state in which different policy approaches are implemented. The focus is on European peripheral and catching up economies. 

In the post-2008 period, the EU has ceased to operate as a 'convergence machine', and gaps have been opening in the EU as well as in the wider Europe. The increased international and regional integration have led to divergent developments between European core and periphery economies as well as to polarisations between Central Europe, EU South and Eastern and South Eastern Europe. It seems that the increasing divergences cannot be resolved by macroeconomic policies and the current situation requires the use of industrial policy. However, the institutional preconditions for its use are very often non-existent. 

EU New member states are recipients of Structural Funds, a large part of which is given through smart specialization framework as a new form of industrial innovation policy. Its use in EU periphery and catching up regions is faced with challenges, notably institutional setup. Besides, the tension between place-based approaches that characterise EU regional policy and the increased need for global value chains oriented industrial policy is not resolved. In summary, applying new approaches in industrial and innovation policy in EU periphery and catching up economies requires rethinking. In particular, the conflict between the EU postulate of a 'level playing field' and the heterogeneity of development and technological levels of different EU economies poses challenges for the design and feasibility of such policies. A diverse range of speakers who are at the frontiers of new thinking about industrial and innovation policy in Europe should hopefully further our understanding on the new issues of agreement and contention.

Programme

10.00  Registration

10.20  Opening by Elodie Douarin, Director Centre for Comparative Study of Emerging Economies, UCL SSEES

10.30  Session I 

• Slavo Radosevic, UCL SSEES 'Assessing EU Smart Specialization Policy in a Comparative Perspective'
• Lena Tsipouri, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens: 'Industrial policy interventions and startup dynamics in LFRs"
• Rainer Kattel, UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose (IPP) 'Innovation (policy) and transformative change in the European Union' 
• Riccardo Crescenzi, London School of Economics (LSE), "Multinational Enterprises, FDI and innovation in less developed regions"
• Peter Berkowitz, Head of Unit G1 - Smart and Sustainable Growth, DG for Regional and Urban Policy, European Commission, "Smart specialisation in less developed regions: what have we learnt from implementation?"

Chair: Federica Rossi, Birkbeck College 

12.50 Lunch

13.30 Session II 

• Imogen Wade, UCL SSEES, 'Lessons for a Policy Maker from Real-Life. Self-Discovery in Economies with Weak Institutions' 
• Blair Lapres (Word Bank - Europe and Central Asia), "Implementing smart specialization: a case study"
• Olga Bolibok, Innovation and Industry development Project manager, Reform Office, Cabinet of Ministers, "Challenges of design and implementation of industrial and innovation policies in Ukraine"

Chair: TBD

15.00 Coffee break

15.30 Session III 

Panel: The scope and challenges for industrial/innovation policy in the European periphery 

• Anwar Aridi, World Bank (Innovation Specialist, Europe and Central Asia unit) 
• Daniele Archibugi, National Research Council Rome and Birkbeck College London 
• Peter Sanfey, Deputy Director for Country Economics and Policy within the Department of Economics, Policy and Governance at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)  
• Robert Wade, London School of Economics (LSE), Escaping the periphery: lesson from East Asia for European periphery
• Anthony Bartzokas, Member of Board of Directors, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)  

Chair: Peter Berkowitz, Head of Unit G1 - Smart and Sustainable Growth, DG for Regional and Urban Policy, European Commission

17.30 Discussion