Industrial policies, patterns of learning and development: An evolutionary perspective.

This work discusses the role of industrial policies within an evolutionary view of innova­tion and learning as drivers of economic development. Building on the notions of techno­ logical paradigms and trajectories, it links the processes of catching up with the dynam­ics of capability accumulation within and across firms. Technological paradigms provide a structure to the knowledge embodied in individual and, even more importantly, in organi­zational problem-solving procedures and routines, which collectively define the techno­ logical and organizational capabilities of firms and whole countries. The improvement of such capabilities is at the core of the process of development and catching up, well be­yond sheer capital accumulation. In turn, such processes are embedded in broader na­tional systems of innovation in which industrial policies play a pivotal role.