Premise and Practice of U.K. Launch Aid

Abstract

Launch Aid has crucially facilitated civil aerospace product development efforts in the UK. Currently Launch Aid figures centrally in the charged international dispute over civil aerospace subsidies, in which it has been characterized variously as an instrument of infant industry policy, technology policy and strategic trade policy. Yet surprisingly little independent economic analysis has informed this debate. This paper's modest aim is to utilize a longitudinal historical approach to facilitate in-depth analysis of the economic, institutional and legal premises of Launch Aid with a view to resolving, to the extent possible, inconsistencies apparent in the public policy and trade dispute debates.

Keywords: Launch Aid, Civil Aerospace, Industrial Policy, R&D, Infant Industry, Technology Policy, Strategic Trade Policy, Risk

JEL Classification: F13, H81, L93, N64, O31, O38