IID Policy Brief 20: The new era of industrial policy in Africa: from SDG assessment to policy solutions

2025  |  Author(s): R. Asiama, E. Avenyo, A. Habiyaremye, P. Ncube, F. Tregenna, C. Donnelly & A. Lavopa

#Policy Brief

Africa stands at a crucial juncture, with both significant challenges and a vast potential for transformative growth through industrial development. Despite progress, the continent faces substantial gaps toward achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly in access to energy, economic growth, job creation, industrialization, and innovation. Future-ready industrial policies that are rooted in Africa’s unique context and resources can catalyse SDG progress by creating economic resilience, driving innovation, generating decent jobs, and spurring structural transformation. This policy brief explores how African countries can engage with and leverage global megatrends such as the energy transition, digital transformation, and regional integration to unlock sustainable development opportunities.

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IID Policy Brief 19: The costs of sustainability driven regulations: Pathways for a fair distribution

2025  |  Author(s): Colette van der Ven & Sanvid Tuljapurkar, Virpi Stucki, Stefan Pahl & Helena van Thiel

#Policy Brief

International trade has brought significant opportunities for economic diversification and development. Global supply chains, however, have also long been associated with environmental degradation and human rights abuses. Since voluntary commitments have
proven insufficient to end harmful practices in their entirety, countries around the world are adopting sustainability-driven regulations, imposing mandatory requirements for more sustainable production and trade. Adapting to these new requirements comes at
a cost, both for businesses and at the country level and there are increasing concerns, particularly in industrializing countries, about the burden that these costs may represent. This policy brief contextualizes current discussions, by distinguishing between different
types of sustainability-driven supply chain regulations and associated costs of compliance.

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IID Policy Brief 18: The multiplier effect of industrial jobs

2025  |  Author(s): A. Lavopa, F. Riccio

#Policy Brief

Industrialization has historically been regarded as the main avenue to move upwards in the income ladder due to its potential to create a large number of well-paid, high-quality jobs. In recent years, rapid technological change and the automation of many industrial processes have questioned the potential of industry to drive development and create productive jobs. This policy brief challenges this pessimistic view. It provides fresh estimates on the multiplier effect of different sectors of the economy on job creation and shows that manufacturing industries have the largest employment generation potential. 

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IID Policy Brief 17: Trade for Industrial Development: Leveraging the Potential of BRICS for Developing Countries

2025  |  Author(s): B. Tse, F. Hartwich

#Policy Brief

With the recent expansion of the BRICS  the organization is becoming an important platform for cooperation between emerging markets. As of end-2023, BRICS already represents a population of almost four billion people and a combined economy of over USD 28.5 trillion, or 27 per cent of the world’s economy, and is expected to grow rapidly. Against the backdrop of an increasingly influential BRICS this policy brief examines what the BRICS bloc has achieved, how it has shifted global trade, and how developing countries can better benefit from their BRICS membership and relations.

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IID Policy Brief 16: The new era of industrial policy in Latin America and the Caribbean: from SDG assessment to policy solutions

2024  |  Author(s): J. Ferraz, W. Peres, A. Lavopa, C. Seri

#Policy Brief

Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) has shown mixed results in their performance towards achieving the SDGs most closely related to industrial development. Significant progress is observed in energy-related SDGs  but large gaps are registered in the targets related to employment, economic growth, industrial development and innovation. This brief presents specific case studies from the region to illustrate how targeted policies can foster industrial development to address current gaps while leveraging on existing opportunities tied to these megatrends.

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IID Policy Brief 15: Manufacturing-led growth: driving and sustaining economies

2024  |  Author(s): A. Lavopa, F. Riccio

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Economic growth and development are positively associated with industrialization. This is supported by a large body of literature emphasizing the role of manufacturing as the key “progressive sector”. This policy brief provides new evidence on the manufacturing growth nexus by examining “growth episodes” and the role that manufacturing has played in recent history in boosting a country’s economic growth.

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IID Policy Brief 14: The new era of industrial policy in Asia-Pacific: from SDG assessment to policy solutions

2024  |  Author(s): A. Mishrif, R. Rasiah, C. Donnelly, N. Haraguchi

#Policy Brief

Asia-Pacific has shown considerable progress toward achieving the SDGs, particularly in areas such as access to energy and industrial production. However, challenges remain in the adoption of clean energy, employment, and innovation. Modern industrial policy can play a key role in bridging these gaps. This policy brief highlights how Asia-Pacific countries can leverage opportunities in green energy, digitalization, regional integration, and demographic changes to accelerate progress toward achieving SDG 7, 8, and 9.

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IID Policy Brief 13: The new era of industrial policy in Eastern Europe: from SDG assessment to policy solutions

2024  |  Author(s): Z. Zavarská, B. Jovanović, O. Pindyuk, A. Lavopa, G. Martí

#Policy Brief

Recent years have witnessed a shift towards more active industrial policy interventions in Eastern Europe. However, challenges remain and targeted interventions to spur industrial competitiveness and bring the region closer to realizing the SDGs by 2030 are urgently needed. This policy brief presents some areas where modern industrial policies can accelerate SDG progress by leveraging advanced digitalization, clean energy production, FDI attraction and regional integration.

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IID Policy Brief 12: Bridging the AI divide: Empowering developing countries through manufacturing

2024  |  Author(s): G. Anzolin, N. Haraguchi, A.P. Nishio De Sousa, A. Savrasov, J. Reis

#Policy Brief

The disparity in AI development between advanced and developing countries threatens to widen the technological gap, with the latter frequently relegated to being mere consumers (i.e. becoming ‘technological colonies’) rather than becoming innovators and producers in this rapidly evolving field. This article presents a comprehensive review of the current state of AI innovation and distribution, which highlights the concentration of capabilities and resources in a handful of advanced economies.

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IID Policy Brief 11: Unlocking the industrial potential of African LDCs: Bridging the gap for sustainable development

2024  |  Author(s): N. Haraguchi & M. Sanfilippo

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The industrialization gap between African and Asian LDCs has increased considerably in the last 20 years, with Asian LDCs’ MVA per capita growing threefold compared to that of African LDCs between 2000 and 2022. African LDCs’ weak institutions, low competitiveness and limited global integration hamper their untapped potential for industrial growth. Tailored industrial policies that prioritize infrastructure, clean technologies and youth employment can bridge this gap and help African LDCs achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

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IID Policy Brief 10: Navigating challenges: Policy solutions for Ukrainian firms on the road to recovery

2024  |  Author(s): U. Korwatanasakul, N. Cantore, N. Haraguchi, S. Sicars, N. Takahashi, P. Sobolievskyi, A. Dligach

#Policy Brief

The armed conflict has had a profound impact on Ukraine’s economic landscape, leading to significant declines in both economic growth and industrial production. While existing government support addresses firms’ immediate needs, a notable gap is evident between the support being received by firms and the support they need. To bridge this policy gap and enhance financial resources and technological capabilities across all levels, government agencies must bolster coordination to mobilize and efficiently allocate fiscal resources for expanding support coverage.

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IID Policy Brief 9: Policy packages for decarbonizing heavy industry

2023  |  Author(s): C. Bataille and M. Alfare

#Policy Brief

The Paris Agreement’s primary goal is to keep the rise in average global temperatures to
“well below 2°C and toward 1.5°C” from preindustrial levels. If this goal is to be realized,
the industrial sector must achieve net-zero carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 2055.

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IID Policy Brief 8: Industrial policy solutions for LDCs: How industrialization strengthens food security

2023  |  Author(s): A. Andreoni, A. Isaksson, F. Russo

#Policy Brief

Industrial policy has the potential of significantly reducing hunger in LDCs through
industrial policy interventions focused on 1) building productive capabilities; 2) shaping
agro-industry value chains, and 3) regulating and guiding markets.

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IID Policy Brief 7: Diving into diversification How North African countries can boost economic ties with the EU

2023  |  Author(s): C. Altomonte, G. Presidente, N. Coniglio, D. Vurchio, C. Pasini, N. Cantore

#Policy Brief

Developed countries are witnessing a resurgence in industrial policy in response to the
‘poly-crisis’ caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, rapid digitalization, climate change and
escalating geopolitical tensions. The concept of ‘strategic autonomy’, i.e. reducing reliance
on key intermediate goods and raw material imports lies at the centre of industrial policy
in the European Union (EU). By analysing the trade patterns of industrial goods at
the product level and applying UNIDO’s DIVE  tool, coupled with a novel filtering procedure, we identify the challenges and opportunities for NACs under this new European policy framework while also offering evidence-based policy recommendations for the region’s governments.

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IID Policy Brief 6: Who is at the forefront of the green technology frontier?

2023  |  Author(s): A. Lavopa and M. de las Mercedes Menéndez

#Policy Brief

The development of green technologies is a pre-condition for effectively addressing
climate change. Green technological change has accelerated in the last decade, pointing
to a potential new technological revolution around the green economy. This policy brief
explores who is driving this incipient revolution.

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IID Policy Brief 5: Greening industrial development

2023  |  Author(s): G. Anzolin and A. Lebdioui

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Climate change raises important questions for the sustainability of industrialization as a development model, a model that has allowed countries to prosper over the past two centuries. Industrial policy  is increasingly being recognized as a key ingredient of the transition to a low carbon future. Greener consumption is crucial if we are to achieve the sustainability goals.

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IID Policy Brief 4: Aligning digital and industrial policy

2023  |  Author(s): C. Foster and S. Azmeh

#Policy Brief

Digital technologies are driving industrial transformation, with impacts across a range of
sectors of production. This includes potential shifts in the geography of global production
with implications for industrial development. Novel approaches to industrial policy are
necessary to embrace and take advantage of these changes.

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IID Policy Brief 3: Development finance institutions

2023  |  Author(s): João Carlos Ferraz

#Policy Brief

Given effective political guidance, solid policy directives as well as sufficient resources, development finance institutions (DFIs) have the DNA and capability to efficiently and innovatively foster sustainable development.

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IID Policy Brief 2: Mission-oriented industrial strategy

2023  |  Author(s): M. Mazzucato and R. Kattel

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A new approach to industrial strategy is necessary to tackle today’s grand challenges.

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IID Policy Brief 1: Global Industrial Policy: Measurement and Results

2023  |  Author(s): R. Juhász, N. Lane, E. Oehlsen and V. C. Pérez

#Policy Brief

Using a readily available source of mass data on commercial policies, we present insights into current industrial policy use around the world. Our findings suggest that industrial policy is on the rise globally, with rich countries leading the race in terms of its use.

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