Forging Industrial Policy: The United States, Britain, and France in the Railway Age

by Frank Dobbin

• ISBN13: 9780521629904
• ISBN10: 052162990X
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1997-07-13
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

The United States, France and Britain use markedly different kinds of industrial policies to foster economic growth today. To understand the origins of these different policies, this book examines the evolution of public policies governing one of the first modern industries, the railroads. The author challenges conventional thinking in economics, political science and sociology by arguing that cultural meaning plays an important role in the development of purportedly rational policies designed to promote industrial growth. This book has implications for the study of rational institutions of all sorts, including science, management and economics, as well as for the study of culture.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	ix
1 Political culture and industrial rationality	1	(27)
Introduction	1	(9)
Political realism	5	(2)
Economic realism	7	(2)
Institutional realism	9	(1)
Culture and meaning in modern states	10	(9)
Institutionalized meaning systems	12	(3)
Rationalized meaning systems	15	(3)
Vocabulary for a cultural approach to policy	18	(1)
The argument	19	(7)
Political culture	22	(1)
Emergent industrial culture	23	(3)
Conclusion	26	(2)
2 The United States	28	(67)
Introduction	28	(8)
American state structure	30	(5)
Railway policy	35	(1)
Planning	36	(4)
State and local planning	36	(2)
Federal planning	38	(2)
Finance	40	(19)
State and local aid	40	(9)
Federal promotion	49	(10)
Technical and managerial coordination	59	(5)
Pricing and competition	64	(27)
State regulation	66	(9)
Federal regulation	75	(16)
Conclusion	91	(4)
3 France	95	(63)
Introduction	95	(10)
French state structure	97	(6)
French railway policy	103	(2)
Planning	105	(11)
Early state planning: 1823-1833	105	(3)
The maturation of public planning	108	(8)
Finance	116	(16)
The debate: Should the railways be public or private?	117	(6)
The compromise: Mixed construction and private operation	123	(9)
Technical and managerial coordination	132	(9)
The early franchises	132	(3)
The expansion of state controls	135	(6)
Pricing and competition	141	(12)
Early rate-setting	142	(2)
Industry structure and competition	144	(3)
The maturation of pricing and competition policy	147	(6)
Conclusion	153	(5)
4 Britain	158	(55)
Introduction	158	(8)
British state structure	160	(5)
Railway policy	165	(1)
Planning	166	(9)
The battle over expropriation	167	(8)
Finance	175	(3)
Technical and managerial coordination	178	(18)
Safety	180	(12)
Operations, gauge, scheduling, and time	192	(4)
Pricing and competition	196	(12)
Rates	197	(2)
Competition	199	(9)
Conclusion	208	(5)
5 Conclusion	213	(20)
Introduction	213	(4)
The rise of industrial policy paradigms	214	(3)
Culture and rationality	217	(1)
Politics and rationality	218	(4)
Are interest groups primordial or constructed?	219	(1)
Are interests objective or subjective?	219	(1)
Does the strongest group always win?	220	(2)
Economics and rationality	222	(5)
Economics as a natural science	222	(2)
The social origins of economic principles	224	(3)
Institutions and rationality	227	(3)
Conclusion	230	(3)
Bibliography	233	(22)
Index	255