Industrial policies at a time of liberalization: the internationalization of European transport enterprises:

For more than three decades, European institutions have been committed to opening up the markets of public services, which were traditionally managed under monopolistic arrangements within each member state. The internationalization of firms previously operating in this sector is a phenomenon that will reshape the relationships between national governments and national industry. The creation of a comparative advantage in these markets is thus emerging as a crucial issue within each national political economy. While many scholars have emphasized the role of mercantilist strategies as the most prominent strategy for the creation of national champions, others have suggested that market-building and the pursuit of industrial goals may be self-reinforcing. Adopting a firm-level analysis of the EU market for public transport, this article adds empirical evidence to the debate on the relationship between regulation and industrial policy.Points for practitionersThis article describes the evolution of 13 European ...