Since the beginning of decolonisation in Africa, regional integration has become one of the most potent defining characteristics of the continent’s quest for industrialisation and sustainable development. It was understood that the individual continental economies could not achieve the requisite level of industrial development to meet their respective development objectives due to the colonial policy of balkanisation, which divided the continent into small, economically unviable units. In 1992, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) adopted developmental integration, an approach to regional integration to engender industrialisation and address the region’s development challenges. 

This book offers a critical assessment and examination of this approach as to how it has influenced the industrialisation process in Southern Africa. If so, why has it failed to accelerate the region’s industrialisation and structural transformation process? It contributes significantly to cross-cutting development debates on the African continent, particularly in southern Africa. More importantly, in understanding the nexus between developmental integration and industrialisation. 

Contents page:

1. Introduction: Understanding SADC’s Quest for Industrialisation

2. Industrial Policy and Industrialisation

3. Post-independence Approaches to Industrialisation in Africa

4. Historical Evolution of SADC: From Cooperation to Integration

5. Financing Industrialisation in SADC

6. SADC's Industrialisation through Developmental Integration

7. Country Case Studies

8. 30 Years of the Developmental Integration Quest for Industrialisation in SADC

9. Conclusion: Re-engineering the State to Take Action in SADC

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The 2008 financial crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic have made the authorities to increasingly turn inward and use ethnocentrism, protectionism, and top-down approaches to guide policy on trade, competition, and industrial development. The continuing aftereffects of such policies range from the rise and seeming success of authoritarian states, rise of populist and protectionist trends, and evolving academic agendas inspiring the reemergence of top-down industrial policies across the world.

This open access edited volume contains contributions from over 30 scholars with expertise in economics, innovation, management, and economic history. The chapters offer unique theoretical and empirical contributions discussing topics such as how industrial policies affect risk, incentives, and information for investments. They also address the policy perspectives on new technologies such as AI and its implications for market entry, the role for independent entrepreneurship in increasingly regulated markets, and whether governments should focus on market interventions or institutional capacity-building.

 Questioning the Entrepreneurial State initiates a much sought-after debate on the notion of an Entrepreneurial State. It discusses the dangers of top-down approaches to industrial policy, examines lessons from such approaches for future policy design, and calls attention to the progress of open and contestable markets in a sound economy and society.

​Contents page:

Front Matter

Introductory Chapter

• Front Matter

• Introduction

The Entrepreneurial State: Theoretical Perspectives

• Front Matter

• The Entrepreneurial State and the Platform Economy

• An Effectual Analysis of Markets and States

• The Entrepreneurial State: An Ownership Competence Perspective

• Innovation Without Entrepreneurship: The Pipe Dream of Mission-Oriented Innovation Policy

The Entrepreneurial State, Entrepreneurial Universities, and Startups

• Front Matter

• Building Local Innovation Support Systems: Theory and Practice

• Reducing Higher Education Bureaucracy and Reclaiming the Entrepreneurial University

• Cultural Ideals in the Entrepreneurship Industry

• Evaluating Evaluations of Innovation Policy: Exploring Reliability, Methods, and Conflicts of Interest

• Do Targeted R&D Grants toward SMEs Increase Employment and Demand for High Human Capital Workers?

The Entrepreneurial State and Sustainability Transitions

• Front Matter

• Third-Generation Innovation Policy: System Transformation or Reinforcing Business as Usual?

• Less from More: China Built Wind Power, but Gained Little Electricity

• The Failures of the Entrepreneurial State: Subsidies to Renewable Energies in Europe

• Directionality in Innovation Policy and the Ongoing Failure of Green Deals: Evidence from Biogas, Bio-ethanol, and Fossil-Free Steel

From the Entrepreneurial State Towards Evidence-Based Innovation Policy

• Front Matter

• Policy Instruments for High-Growth Enterprises

• Public-Steering and Private-Performing Sectors: Success and Failures in the Swedish Finance, Telecoms, and City Planning Sectors

• The Digital Platform Economy and the Entrepreneurial State: A European Dilemma

• Collaborative Innovation Blocs and Mission-Oriented Innovation Policy: An Ecosystem Perspective

Reviews:

 “Creative destruction, innovation and entrepreneurship are at the core of economic growth. The government has a clear role, to provide the basic fabric of a dynamic society, but industrial policy and state-owned companies are the boulevard of broken dreams and unrealized visions. This important message is convincingly stated in Questioning the Entrepreneurial State.” --Anders Borg, former Minister of Finance, Sweden

“Misreading the dynamism of American entrepreneurship, European intellectuals and policy makers have embraced a dangerous fantasy: catching up requires constructing an entrepreneurial state.  This book provides a vital antidote: The entrepreneur comes first: The state may support. It cannot lead.” --Amar Bhidé, Thomas Schmidheiny Professor of International Business, Tufts University

 “This important new book subjects the emergence of the entrepreneurial state, which reflects a shift in the locus of entrepreneurship from the individual to the public sector, to the scrutiny of rigorous analysis. The resulting concerns, flaws and biases inherent in the entrepreneurial state exposed are both alarming and sobering. The skill and scholarly craftsmanship brought to bear in this crucial analysis is evident throughout the book, along with the even, but ultimately consequential thinking of the authors. A must read for researchers and thought leaders in business and policy." --David Audtretsch, Distinguished Professor, Ameritech Chair of Economic Development, Indiana University

“The book is written for both academics and policymakers, and it is written clearly without an assumption that readers possess a strong foundation of economic training. … Questioning the Entrepreneurial State is an excellent edited volume comprising thought provoking concerns about the viability of an entrepreneurial state. … After reading this edited volume, readers will learn not just the entrepreneurial state and criticisms, but will learn about a variety of topics on institutions, ecosystems, sustainability, and politics related to entrepreneurship and innovation.”  --Christopher John Boudreaux (Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Vol. 32, 2022)

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This open access book analyses the development problems of sub-Sahara Africa (SSA) from the eyes of a Korean diplomat with knowledge of the economic growth Korea has experienced in recent decades. The author argues that Africa's development challenges are not due to a lack of resources but a lack of management, presenting an alternative to the traditional view that Africa's problems are caused by a lack of leadership. In exploring an approach based on mind-set and nation-building, rather than unity – which tends to promote individual or party interests rather than the broader country or national interests – the author suggests new solutions for SSA's economic growth, inspired by Korea's successful economic growth model much of which is focused on industrialisation.

This book will be of interest to researchers, policymakers, NGOs and governmental bodies in economics, development and politics studying Africa's economic development, and Korea's economic growth model.

​Contents page:

Front Matter

The Paradox of Sub-Saharan Africa

• Disillusionment and Dilemma

• Assessing the Role of Foreign Aid, Donors and Recipients

Rethinking the Root Causes of Africa’s Under-Development

• Review of Conventional Explanations

• Uncovering the Main Root Cause: The Mindset Factor

Africa’s Forgotten Mission of Nation-Building: What are Missing

• Finding the Missing Links

• Reasons for Optimism and the Tasks at Hand

Understanding Korean Development Model

• Korea’s Path of Development in Retrospect

• The Essence of the Korean Model of Development

Application of the Korean Model for Africa

• Applicability of the Korean Development Model for Africa

• Policy Recommendations for Africa

• Engineering Rural Development for Africa

Africa on the New Path to Development

• Re-setting the Priorities

• Enacting Bold but Harmonious Change

Back Matter

Reviews:

 “Written by a Korean diplomat and Africanist, this book offers a unique perspective on the development problems of the sub-Sahara Africa (SSA), and it also suggests effective solutions for SSA to take off economically, basically through the two-step approach of building-block and building-bridge.” --Keun Lee, Professor of Economics at Seoul National University, South Korea

“The potency of this book lies in the unique qualification of the author with vast experiences richly encompassing both the Korean and African aspects and policy expertise guided by strong academic credentials. His work embodies keen insights, and is a welcome addition to the African development discourse; I highly recommend it to all those interested in meeting the African development challenges head-on.” --Augustin K. Fosu, Professor of Economics (ISSER) at University of Ghana, Ghana

 “On the strength of a life-long front-row experience of the continent and a deep command of the literature, facts and debates, Jong-Dae Park offers an intriguing cultural argument about African development. Inspired by the experience of South Korea, it is provocative (despite its gentle tone) and likely to prove controversial. Yet, it is also hopeful and well worth reading, both for African and non-African students, scholar and practitioners of development.” --Pierre Englebert, Professor of Political Science at Pomona College, USA

 “A perspective from an Asian with profound experience in Africa and who is keenly aware of Korea's achievements is a welcome addition for tackling Africa's development challenges and opportunities. Jong-Dae Park weaves together so immaculately his personal observations, careful reading of available literature, and insights into the Korean experience; the book forces the reader to navigate peculiar idiosyncrasy and generalities in Africa and South Korea’s development so as to draw some crucial lessons.” --Siphamandla Zondi, Professor of Political Science at University of Pretoria, South Africa

 “Jong-Dae Park is uniquely qualified to comment on the contrast between Africa and South Korea due to his background. Park's critique is not an armchair academic exercise; he is passionate about development because, as a Korean, he has witnessed first-hand the transformation of his country, while in Africa he sees the vast potential not yet realized.” --Dr. Ian Clarke, Chairman of Clarke Group, Uganda

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Taking South Africa as an important case study of the challenges of structural transformation, Structural Transformation in South Africa offers a new micro-meso level framework and evidence linking country-specific and global dynamics of change, with a focus on the current challenges and opportunities faced by middle-income countries. Detailed analyses of industry groupings and interests in South Africa reveal the complex set of interlocking country-specific factors which have hampered structural transformation over several decades, but also the emerging productive areas and opportunities for structural change. The structural transformation trajectory of South Africa presents a unique country case, given its industrial structure, concentration and highly internationalized economy, as well as the objective of black economic empowerment.

Structural Transformation in South Africa links these micro-meso dynamics to global forces driving economic, institutional and social change. This include digital industrialization, global value chain consolidation, financialization, environmental and other sustainability challenges, which are reshaping structural transformation dynamics across middle-income countries like South Africa. While these new drivers of change are disrupting existing industries and interests in some areas, in others they are reinforcing existing trends and configurations of power. The book analyses the ways in which both the domestic and global drivers of structural transformation shape-and, in some cases, are shaped by-a country's political settlement and its evolution. By focusing on the political economy of structural transformation, the book disentangles the specific dynamics underlying the South African experience of the middle-income country conundrum. In so doing, it brings to light the broader challenges faced by similar countries in achieving structural transformation via industrial policies. 

Reviews:

"Blending heterodox economic analysis with selected sectoral case studies, the different chapters examine the damaging legacy of the Washington Consensus on the South African economy and make a clear and convincing case for putting industrial policy back at the centre of development strategy, not only to correct past failures but to manage the new challenges arising from an increasingly digitalized, monopolized and environmentally fragile world. While the South African economy takes centre stage in the volume, the analysis and policy recommendations speak to a wider audience across the developing world. A valuable read." -- Richard Kozul-Wright, Director of the Globalisation and Development Strategies Division, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)

"This book is a reminder of the unfinished business of building economies that can deliver shared prosperity. This is especially so for South Africa, a middle-income country that has faced economic stagnation in the decade following the Great Recession. In its earlier years, post-apartheid South Africa scored significant achievements in extending basic services to the majority of the population and reversing the poor macroeconomic metrics inherited from the apartheid regime. But to deliver sustained and inclusive growth, the fundamental structure of the economy must be tackled. The deep research presented in this book provides decision-makers across various sectors of society with the material to think deeply about how the South African economy creates value and the nature of its integration in a rapidly evolving global economy." -- Trudi Makhaya, Economic Advisor to the President of South Africa, President Cyril Ramaphosa

"This volume offers highly original perspectives on structural transformation in South Africa. It provides sophisticated analyses of productive transformation at the sectoral level, based on profound understanding of national political economy and global technological trends. It is a unique contribution to industrial policy making in middle-income countries." -- Ha-Joon Chang, Reader, University of Cambridge

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