Trade agreements and the myth of policy constraint in Australia |
| |
Authors: | Elizabeth Thurbon |
| |
Affiliation: | School of Social Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia |
| |
Abstract: | In this paper, I challenge the conventional view that trade agreements act as a major constraint on Australia’s industry policy options. Through a comparison with South Korea – a country with similar trade obligations to Australia – I find that the Australian government retains significant room to move in the industry policy sphere. However, Australian policy-makers appear far less willing than their foreign counterparts to use that space. To explain Australia’s comparative industry policy in-activism, I move beyond broad-brush explanations centred on ‘liberal ideology’ to explore the ideational, institutional and structural obstacles to the pursuit of a more proactive industry policy approach on the part of Australian policy-makers. |
| |
Keywords: | Developmental state industry policy South Korea strategic activism trade |
|
|