G20 Foundation Research Green Growth Forum Communique | Page 72

Lin and Monga, 2010). Each country with its unique and dynamic endowment structure
requires diff erent policy interventions at diff erent points in time.
According to Hausmann and Rodrik (2003), identifying and implementing the right po-
licy decisions is a process of »self-discovery« involving all sectors of society. Some tasks
fall squarely in the hands of private sector actors, others might be the role of civil society,
and many are clearly public sector tasks. Finally, a host of activities require collaborati-
on between private and public sector actors. The latter type of activities is what Haus-
mann and Rodrik (2006) defi ne as industrial policy. Rather than involving a specifi c set
of interventions or policy measures, Hausmann and Rodrik argue that industrial policy
is composed of sector-specifi c interventions to address the most relevant bottlenecks
for innovation and economic upgrading. Identifying these bottlenecks and developing
appropriate interventions is both an essential and a very complicated task that requires
policy makers to distinguish between public and private interests.
Key to successful industrial policy is, therefore, the development of governance me-
chanisms that facilitate continuous exchange and cooperation between the public and
private sector, while safeguarding the autonomy of the State vis-à-vis the private sec-
tor. According to Rodrik (2004, 2006), the ideal that governments should aspire to is a
state of »embedded autonomy« (see Evans, 1995). This can be fostered by introducing
mechanisms of transparency and accountability in the suggested public-private forums.
Moreover, interventio