Rethinking the Performance of Industrial Policies: New Approaches and Recomposition of Scientific Themes

Abstract

Since the end of the Washington Consensus, industrial policies have regained strategic importance as tools for competitiveness, innovation, and sustainability. However, research on their performance remains fragmented and lacks an integrated perspective. This study used a bibliometric approach based on SCOPUS data covering the period 1999–2025. The analysis was conducted on a corpus of 4,026 documents retrieved from the SCOPUS database, using Bibliometrix (R) for quantitative mapping and VOSviewer for keyword co-occurrence and network visualization. The analysis followed a transparent and reproducible protocol based on a clearly defined search query, inclusion criteria, and a robustness test comparing alternative extractions to ensure the stability of thematic structures and keyword networks. The results revealed three main lines of research within the field: studies evaluating the economic and productive performance of industrial policies, works linking these policies to innovation and sustainability dynamics, and a growing stream addressing technological sovereignty and institutional frameworks. This study offers an integrated understanding of how research has approached the performance of industrial policies, highlighting a shift toward systemic perspectives that link performance with innovation, sustainability, and technological sovereignty. It calls for future studies to connect these insights with empirical evidence from real industrial transformations.