The Future of Industrial Work: New Pathways and Policies of Structural Transformation?

WORKSHOP: Organised by UNIDO, UNU-MERIT and the ESRC GCRF Global Poverty and Inequality Dynamics Research Network.

Industrialisation was the prime pathway to prosperity and job growth throughout the nineteenth and much of the twentieth century. Many scholars argue that, for developing countries, industrialisation continues to be essential given the multiple benefits it has been shown to provide to productivity, exports and employment growth as well as to various dimensions of inclusive development. Advocates of industrial policy moreover see an active role for the state in pushing industrial transformation. Yet, the current trend of structural change may suggest a departure from this traditional pathway.

The objective of the workshop is to address the following questions:

1) What would make traditional forms of structural transformation – industrialisation – more viable in future years? What public policies are plausible and appropriate?

2) What is the impact in developing countries of new technologies and 'Industry 4.0' on comparative advantage, industrial work and social and economic inclusiveness? What are the distributional and political dynamics of new modes of structural change? What public policies are plausible and appropriate?

3) How are the manufacturing and service sectors interdependent? Does a strong manufacturing base support the growth of high-tech service industries? Can the growth of high-productivity service industries drive industrialisation? What public policies are plausible and appropriate to create synergies between manufacturing and service development for inclusive and sustainable growth?

Deadline to submit abstracts is 1 May.

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