Paper - Initiative for Policy Dialogue
Paper - Initiative for Policy Dialogue
Paper - Initiative for Policy Dialogue
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24<br />
The Commission <strong>for</strong> Africa included a heavy representation of African policy makers<br />
and sought to mobilize increased aid, less conditionality and an eclectic policy agenda in<br />
support of a more ambitious growth ef<strong>for</strong>t <strong>for</strong> Africa. The JICA report was prepared in<br />
the context of the fourth Tokyo International Conference on Development (TICAD IV) in<br />
2008, where there was also renewed interest in accelerating growth in Africa and the<br />
lessons <strong>for</strong> Africa from Asian experiences.<br />
Our focus in this book is more narrow and selective on some key overarching issues<br />
<strong>for</strong> Africa’s growth agenda, especially (i) the appropriate role of “industrial policy” (or<br />
more accurately learning, industrial and technology policies); and (ii) governance.<br />
VI. The State and the Market: <strong>Policy</strong> Options <strong>for</strong> Africa<br />
VI.1 Learning, Industrial and Technology (LIT) Policies<br />
In the 50 odd years since Solow showed that the bulk of growth in the advanced<br />
economies was accounted <strong>for</strong> by productivity increases, very little work had been done<br />
on learning, especially how societies learn in the process of development and how that<br />
can be accelerated. 41 This neglect is in marked contrast to the attention given to<br />
allocation of resources; and the neglect is particularly significant in policy analyses.<br />
41 In the years immediately after Solow’s classic study, there were a number of studies analyzing<br />
“endogenous” determinants of the rate of technical progress and the allocation of resources to research and<br />
development. These include Arrow (1962a, 1962b), Uzawa, Shell, Nordhaus, Atkinson and Stiglitz, and<br />
Stiglitz (1975). In the late 70s, there was a resurgence of interest in these topics, and Schumpeterian<br />
innovation theory more generally, focusing on integration of growth theory with the theory of industrial<br />
organization, with work of Mansfield ( ), Stiglitz (1978, published 198 ), and Dasgupta and Stiglitz<br />
(1980a, 1980b). A second revival occurred with the work of Roemer ( ). Much of this work, though,<br />
was focused on innovation in advanced industrial countries. The process of learning and adaptation facing<br />
developing countries remained relatively undeveloped (See, e.g. Sah and Stiglitz, 1985).<br />
Arrow, Kenneth J. (1962a), "The Economic Implications of Learning by Doing". Review of Economic<br />
Studies 29: 155–73.<br />
Arrow, Kenneth J. (1962b), Economic welfare and the allocation of resources <strong>for</strong> innovation. In: R.R.<br />
Nelson, Editor, The Rate and Direction of Inventive Activity, Princeton University Press, Princeton (1962),<br />
pp. 609–625.<br />
Uzawa, Hirofumi (1965) "Optimum Technical Change in An Aggregative Model of Economic Growth"<br />
International Economic Review Vol. 6, No. 1 (Jan., 1965), pp. 18-31<br />
Shell, Karl (ed) (1967) Essays on the Theory of Optimal Economic Growth, MIT Press.<br />
Nordhaus, William D, (1969) "An Economic Theory of Technological Change," American Economic<br />
Review, vol. 59(2), pages 18-28, May.<br />
Atkinson, Anthony B & Joseph E Stiglitz (1969) "A New View of Technological Change," Economic<br />
Journal, vol. 79(315), pages 573-78, September.<br />
Mansfield, Edwin (1980), "Basic Research and Productivity Increase in Manufacturing," American<br />
Economic Review, vol. 70(5), pages 863-73, December.<br />
Joseph E. Stiglitz, (1987) "Technological Change, Sunk Costs, and Competition," Brookings <strong>Paper</strong>s on<br />
Economic Activity, vol. 18(1987-3), pages 883-947.<br />
Partha Dasgupta & Joseph Stiglitz (1980a) "Uncertainty, Industrial Structure, and the Speed of R&D," Bell<br />
Journal of Economics, vol. 11(1), pages 1-28, Spring.<br />
Dasgupta, Partha & Stiglitz, Joseph (1980b). "Industrial Structure and the Nature of Innovative Activity,"<br />
Economic Journal, vol. 90(358), pages 266-93, June.