Policy Learning for Industrial Development and the Role of Development Co-operation: A Perspective from Translative Adaptation

Industrial policy has been one of the most debated issues among academics. However, in recent years, the nature of debates has shifted from theoretical controversies to the practical aspects of industrial policy.

Now, the main question is how to apply industrial policy and what instruments to select, rather than whether to engage it. Nevertheless, there is a paucity of studies on the practical aspects of industrial catch-up and learning. To explore the concrete how of learning, this presentation introduces the concept of translative adaptation, drawing on Japan's past experiences and its extensive development cooperation in various countries. Translative adaptation involves selectively adopting and adapting foreign knowledge and technologies to the specific conditions of the home society under the strong influence of dominant global trends.

Here, the government plays a dual role as a policy learner and a facilitator of societal learning. The presentation includes case studies, with attention to Japanese policy dialogue (one type of knowledge cooperation) as a promising method for supporting policy learning and industrialization in partner countries. It then highlights the importance of passion for learning to industrialize, public-private partnership, and learning as a dynamic process. Finally, we discuss whether new industrial landscape will affect such learning method and draw implications for development cooperation.

About the speaker

Izumi Ohno is a Professor and Director of International Cooperation Concentration at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS), Tokyo. She is also Senior Research Advisor to the JICA Ogata Research Institute for Peace and Development. She specializes in international development policy, industrial development cooperation, and business and development. Prior to joining GRIPS in 2002, she worked at JICA, the World Bank, and the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC).

During 2018-2020, she served as Director of the JICA Ogata Research Institute. Her publications include: Learning Foreign Models for Development: Japanese Experience and Cooperation in the Age of New Technology (Springer, 2023 forthcoming, co-edited), Policy Learning for Industrial Development and Development Cooperation (JICA Ogata Research Institute, 2022, co-edited), and Eastern and Western Ideas for African Growth: Diversity and Complementarity in Development Aid (Routledge, 2013, co-edited). She holds an MPA from the Princeton School of International and Public Affairs in the US. 

CHAIR: Dr Jonathan Di John, Co-Director, DLD

Further reading

• Introducing Foreign Models for Development: Japanese Experience and Cooperation in the Age of New Technology (Springer 2023 forthcoming) 
• Japan’s State Learning in the Meiji Period from the Vision Perspective (Springer 2023) 
• Kaizen and Non-cognitive Skills Development in Africa in the Age of Digitalization (Springer 2023)

Registration

This event is free and open to the public.

Organiser

• SOAS Development Leadership Dialogue

Contact

• dld@soas.ac.uk