Regional and sectoral varieties of capitalism

Abstract

This study seeks to go beneath the generalizations that constitute characterizations of national economies in order to examine local and sectoral diversity Á in particular, forms of capitalist organization at the level of localized sectors. It

Varieties of Capitalism: A Critique

“…In this sense, IR has much to offer the VoC research agenda. As several contributions to comparative IR cited inter alia attest, the constant refrain, and echoed by the broader comparative political economy community (Crouch, 2006;Crouch et al, 2009;Lane andWood, 2009, 2013;Streeck, 2009, for example), is that the ideal-types need finer grain detail and a better appreciation of the social-institutional dynamics of accumulation both at the level of the national model as whole and within and between sub regions and sectors. In this sense, the plurality of research programs that have animated traditional IR have much to offer the VoC paradigm through their various capacities to generate this level of detail.…”

“…Nonetheless, a national scale does not always square very well with the more concrete reality of sectors, regions and sub regions of national economies (Crouch et al, 2009;Lane and Wood, 2009). The problem of scale is endemic to any ideal-typical comparative framework as it will necessarily involve problems of aggregation and disaggregation.…”

Region and place I: Institutions

“…Despite the recent growth in the number of democratic jurisdictions, moreover, such societies are themselves being transformed by the growth of judicial activism, the decline of mass politics and electoral participation, the growth of corporate influence and the rise in inequality (e.g. Crouch, 2004). These arguments are amplified under conditions of austerity, where democratic institutions, including local and regional governments, become transmission mechanisms for the priorities of 'global capital', 'bond markets' and other such abstractions (Streeck and Schäfer, 2013;Tomaney et al, 2010).…”

“…Hall andSoskice (2001) seek to explain the institutional 'varieties of capitalism' in terms of differences in the micro-economics of firm behaviour and labour markets and their regulation (see Crouch et al, 2009, for an attempt to extend this approach to the regional scale). However, while it is vital to assess how regions with ostensibly similar assets and endowments adapt differently, we also require an awareness of how regions are embedded in wider politicaleconomic-territorial frameworks (Mackinnon et al, 2009).…”

In and Between Societies: Reconnecting Comparative Institutionalism and Organization Theory

“…With respect to agency, comparative institutionalism recognizes that actors have the capacity to change or avoid institutions (Deeg & Jackson, 2007) and that this capacity is facilitated by institutional heterogeneity across sectors, policy domains and regions within the same societal setting (e.g. Allen, 2004;Crouch et al, 2009;Lane & Wood, 2012;Morgan & Quack, 2005;Schneiberg, 2007). Lange (2009), for example, highlights how sub-national institutional heterogeneity and internationalization provide German biotech firms with the leeway needed to compete with their British counterparts, while Allen (2013) emphasizes that firms can access institutional resources abroad through institutional arbitrage and 'institutional outsourcing'.…”