Studying the developmental state: theory and method in research on industrial policy and state-led development in Africa

Abstract

This paper examines theoretical and methodological issues in the study of African developmental states. We argue that applying this concept beyond East Asia, must take into account changes in the global economic context-in particular systemic tendencies towards deficient consumer demand-to uncover the conditions under which demand for commodity production remains or becomes expansionary. We further argue for a mixed methods case study approach to structural transformation, blending quantitative and qualitative evidence at multiple levels of analysis. The examples of concrete manufacturing and oil and gas in Nigeria and Tanzania illustrate our approach to researching state-led development in Africa.

The Dynamics of Industrial Development in a Resource-Rich Developing Society: A Political Economy Analysis

“…It focuses on the critical links between politics at the domestic and international levels and how these links and the distribution of power help to determine the pattern of industrialization in countries like T&T (Ovadia & Wolf, 2017). Industrialization is broadly defined as the process of developing value-added activity across economic sectors, including the creation of linkages, in addition to the deepening of the technological content and productivity within sectors borne from investments and institutional arrangements that create demand, boost skills and increase technological capabilities (Bell, 2009; Farrell, 1982; Morris, Kaplinsky, & Kaplan 2012b; Ovadia & Wolf, 2017). Technological capability refers to the knowledge base, resources, skills, including design and engineering competences, and the organizational structures that are needed to meet demand (Bell, 2009; Farrell, 1979).…”

“…It adopts a historically grounded case study method with an institutional focus that highlights the characteristics and configuration among relevant actors over different periods of time. Case study research offers the advantage of “producing the context and time dependent knowledge needed to trace complex multi-dimensional, path dependent and path-shaping processes” (Ovadia & Wolf, 2017, p. 2), which help us to ascertain the reasons for the success and failure of state-led processes in specific economic sectors. Using this method, the study analyses the T&T’s institutional framework and two industrial sectors: (a) iron and steel (mid-tech manufacturing) and (b) telecommunications (high-tech services) to understand the development of state-led industrialization in this country.…”

“…More recent critical historical and institutional studies question the conventional wisdom that has become an important analytical lever for policy discussions about resource abundance (Di John, 2011; Edwards, 2017b; Morris, Kaplinsky, & Kaplan, 2012a; Ovadia & Wolf, 2017; Rosser, 2006; Saad-Filho & Weeks, 2013; Saylor, 2014). These studies give credence to social relations—the agency of domestic social actors and the distribution of power among them—demonstrate considerable variability in performance of resource-rich countries over different historical periods, and give importance to the evolution of institutions, in particular the role of the state and the pressures of the international political economy (Grabowski, 2002; Hogenboom, 2012).…”

“…This approach reveals how countries are not locked into specific development paths. Rather, development is a complex and multi-causal process shaped by specific social-institutional configurations, policies that emerge from the complex interaction of domestic and external forces, and economic structures that prevail in a society and in turn help determine political and economic outcomes often not considered in the resource curse literature (Amsden, 2009; Breznitz & Ornston, 2016; Edwards, 2017a; Mohan, Asante, & Abdulai, 2017; Ovadia & Wolf, 2017).…”

Industrial Policy and Monopoly Capitalism in Nigeria: Lessons from the Dangote Business Conglomerate

“…We add to their contribution the Kaleckian proposition that the mechanisms which sustain the growth of demand are closely linked if not reducible to the distribution of income and wealth. Relatedly, we emphasize the expansion of domestic markets (Frankema and van Waijenburg, 2018;Ovadia and Wolf, 2018;Wolf, 2017) and domestic lead firms (Odijie, 2020) as an important driver of growth in demand, alongside and as a basis for export diversification.…”