Business Power and the Minimal State: The Defeat of Industrial Policy in Chile

Abstract

Chile has maintained a limited industrial policy for nearly three decades. Policy resilience during the 2000s and 2010s is especially puzzling given the political and economic context: three Socialist-led administrations; the retreat of the Washington Consensus; resource abundance from the commodity boom; and the decline of the so-called economic 'miracle'. We present the first comprehensive analysis of industrial policy in post-authoritarian Chile (1990-present) and show the significant political influence of business actors with a preference for limited state intervention in the economy as a mechanism of policy reproduction.

Chile has maintained a limited industrial policy for nearly three decades. Policy resilience during the 2000s and 2010s is especially puzzling given the political and economic context: three Socialist-led administrations; the retreat of the Washington Consensus; resource abundance from the commodity boom; and the decline of the so-called economic 'miracle'. We present the first comprehensive analysis of industrial policy in post-authoritarian Chile (1990-present) and show the significant political influence of business actors with a preference for limited state intervention in the economy as a mechanism of policy reproduction.