Year: 2019
Type: dissertation
Abstract: This thesis utilizes an institutional theory of economic organization and technological innovation called regime theory to explain the origins, operation, and outcomes of industrial policy in Canada. The first part of the thesis elaborates the theory using formal logic, spatial modelling techniques, and game theory. The second part evaluates cross-national quantitative evidence in support of the theory and undertakes three detailed case studies involving shipbuilding, agricultural biotechnology, and green energy manufacturing. Consistent with the varieties of capitalism literature, it is demonstrated that liberal political economies are institutionally-poised toward radical innovation but struggle with late innovation. The introductory chapter defines industrial policy, explains why the study of industrial policy is important, details the argument of the thesis, summarizes the methods used, and lays out how the thesis is organized. The second chapter engages with the literature on collective action and entrepreneurship to advance three components of regime theory: a theory of regime origins, a theory of regime operation, and a theory of regime outcomes. The third chapter introduces the structure of the economy and state of technological development as situational variables, consideration of which yields four archetypical models of industrial policy and ten predictive hypotheses about the causes and consequences of industrial policy coordination. Chapter 3 concludes with a summary of the propositions and implications of the theory. The fourth chapter analyzes three cases studies —aluminum shipbuilding industrial policy in British Columbia; federal-provincial biotechnology policy in support of the canola industry; and Ontario’s green energy industrial strategy— and evaluates the ability of regime theory to explain industrial policy in Canada. The fifth and final chapter summarizes the theory and evidence presented in the thesis and discusses the inferences that can be drawn from the findings.
Source: TSpace (University of Toronto)
Author: Matt Wilder
Language: English
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2963892433