PRIVATIZATION AS INDUSTRIAL-POLICY - STATE WITHDRAWAL FROM THE BRITISH MOTOR INDUSTRY

The distinctive feature of industrial policy towards the motor industr y in the 1980s was the transformation in government policy from one of subsidizing BL to active encouragement of Japanese inward investment. This article focuses on the key events of the BL privatization and il lustrates how the changing nature of the government's relationship wit h BL and the motor industry was a fundamental influence on policy chan ge. It also examines the utility of policy network models in accountin g for policy outcomes in a highly politicized policy environment.