Dirigisme

Dirigisme or dirigism (from French diriger 'to direct') is an economic doctrine in which the state plays a strong directive (policies) role, contrary to a merely regulatory or non-interventionist role, over a market economy.[1] As an economic doctrine, dirigisme is the opposite of laissez-faire, stressing a positive role for state intervention in curbing productive inefficiencies and market failures. Dirigiste policies often include indicative planning, state-directed investment, and the use of market instruments (taxes and subsidies) to incentivize market entities to fulfill state economic objectives.

The term emerged in the post-World War II era to describe the economic policies of France which included substantial state-directed investment, the use of indicative economic planning to supplement the market mechanism and the establishment of state enterprises in strategic domestic sectors. It coincided with both the period of substantial economic and demographic growth, known as the Trente Glorieuses which followed the war, and the slowdown beginning with the 1973 oil crisis.

The term has subsequently been used to classify other economies that pursued similar policies, such as Canada, Japan, the East Asian tiger economies of Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan; and more recently the economy of the People's Republic of China (PRC) after its economic reforms,[2] Malaysia, Indonesia[3][4] and India after the opening of its economy in 1991.[5][6][7]

Most modern economies can be characterized as dirigiste to some degree as the state may exercise directive action by performing or subsidizing research and development of new technologies through government procurement (especially military) or through state-run research institutes.[8]

  1. ^ "Dirigisme". Oxford Dictionaries. Retrieved 25 May 2013.
  2. ^ Schmidt, Johannes Dragsbaek (1996). "Models of Dirigisme in East Asia: Perspectives for Eastern Europe". The Aftermath of 'Real Existing Socialism' in Eastern Europe. pp. 196–216. doi:10.1007/978-1-349-14155-5_13. ISBN 978-1-349-14157-9.
  3. ^ Kim, Kyunghoon (2023). "Key Features of Indonesia's State Capitalism Under Jokowi". Jas (Journal of Asean Studies). 10 (2). doi:10.21512/jas.v10i2.9075.
  4. ^ Kim, Kyunghoon (2021). "Indonesia's Restrained State Capitalism: Development and Policy Challenges". Journal of Contemporary Asia. 51 (3): 419–446. doi:10.1080/00472336.2019.1675084. S2CID 211395480.
  5. ^ "India's Far from Neo-liberal Economic Order in the Modi Era". 30 October 2020.
  6. ^ "View: Welcome to Modi's state capitalism 2.0". The Economic Times. 2 February 2022.
  7. ^ Chatterjee, Elizabeth (2022). "New Developmentalism and its Discontents: State Activism in Modi's Gujarat and India". Development and Change. 53: 58–83. doi:10.1111/dech.12579. S2CID 212790073.
  8. ^ Mazzucato, Mariana (25 June 2013). "The myth of the 'meddling' state". Public Finance Focus.