Srinivas, S. (forth.). When is Industry ‘Sustainable’? The Economics of Institutional Variety in a Pandemic, Special Issue (Lee, Kastelli, Mamica Eds.) Industrial Policy for Sustainable Development, Review of Evolutionary Political Economy.
Cases analysed: Oxygen, Ayurveda, India, Covid-19
Photo by Denes Kozma on Unsplash
Abstract
Industrialising economies today are characterised by a multi-level heterogeneity of
customs, norms, guidelines, standards, regulations, and other laws that provide the
broad scaffolding and the technical context for industrial activity. This Institutional
Variety (IV) leads to combinatorial challenges about which institutions are mixed and
matched as technologies and sectors evolve. Gaps in evolutionary political economy
and evolutionary institutional methods should explain when variety is ‘better’ for
industrial development. Two health industry cases, Oxygen production and Ayurveda,
have come into the pandemic spotlight under high demand and high uncertainty, by
patients, state, firms, experts, and other stakeholders. Both cases reflect markedly
different types of institutional variety with implications for manufacturing and services.
A debate of sustainable industrial policies (SIPs) thus requires attention to institutional
variety (IV).
A debate of sustainable industrial policies (SIPs) thus requires attention to institutional
variety (IV).