Special Issue: Industrial Policy and Competitiveness
Industrial policy is back in fashion. Governments in the United States, Europe, and China increasingly deploy subsidies, trade restrictions, and regulations to promote domestic champions and secure supply chains. This marks a departure from Washington Consensus-inspired policies that prevailed in much of the world for the past decades. The shift raises a straightforward question for the competition policy world: can industrial policy be reconciled with antitrust law?
The question is not new. Competition policy and industrial policy have coexisted before, often uneasily. What makes the current moment distinct is the scale and scope of intervention. Industrial policy is no longer confined to “traditional” sectors like steel or agriculture. It now targets semiconductors, artificial intelligence, and digital platforms, industries where innovation dynamics are fast and uncertain.
The articles in this special issue examine whether competition law can accommodate this shift and, if so, how. The contributors approach the issue from different angles: innovation economics, competition law doctrine, and digital regulation. Their findings do not converge on a single answer. But they clarify the trade-offs.