
Varieties of Capitalism and Europeanization
National Response Strategies to the Single European Market
Georg Menz(Author)
Oxford University Press
Published on 20. November 2008
Book
Paperback/Softback
304 pages
978-0-19-955103-3 (ISBN)
Description
Europeanization has often been conceived as a top-down process, necessitating implementation and adjustment at the national level. However, Europeanization can also be conditioned by bottom-up national initiatives. While recent endeavors in comparative political economy have emphasized the resilience of coordinated market economies, few detailed empirical studies have examined to date exactly how different European systems of political-economic governance cope with and respond to an European impetus for liberalization. This original study of the impact of the EU-induced liberalization of service provision on member states argues that innovative national re-regulatory strategies may be implemented in response to Europeanization. In permitting any company registered in an EU member state to provide services throughout Europe, new possibilities were created for the transnational posting of workers from low-wage to high-wage countries. However, high-wage countries could re-regulate the wage levels applicable to such employees. The exact nature of such response strategy is coloured by the respective institutional power that labour market interest associations like trade unions and employer associations command. Therefore, different institutionalised varieties of capitalism generate distinct re-regulations of the Single European Market.
Drawing on detailed case studies of ten European countries, this volume bridges the gap between the rapidly unfolding scholarly debate on Europeanization and varieties of capitalism. It argues that both strongly neocorporatist systems of political-economic governance and statist systems are capable of creating swift, comprehensive and thorough national re-regulations. This applies to Austria and France, but also Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Belgium, and Luxembourg. By contrast, countries with less strongly embedded neocorporatist structures, in which due to organizational deficiencies trade unions face difficulties blocking employer demands, create liberal response strategies, permitting a stratification of wage levels. Hence, both Germany and the Netherlands implemented liberal business-friendly re-regulations.
The volume makes the case for important amendments to existing accounts of Europeanization and varieties of capitalism. Scholars of Europeanization need to incorporate bottom-up re-regulation into their conceptual framework, particularly in response to 'negative integration'. Recent strides in comparative political economy have placed great emphasis on continued divergence, yet this study suggests that even within the presumably unified group of 'non-liberal' coordinated market economies important institutional differences produce very distinct responses in the face of European liberalization.
Drawing on detailed case studies of ten European countries, this volume bridges the gap between the rapidly unfolding scholarly debate on Europeanization and varieties of capitalism. It argues that both strongly neocorporatist systems of political-economic governance and statist systems are capable of creating swift, comprehensive and thorough national re-regulations. This applies to Austria and France, but also Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Belgium, and Luxembourg. By contrast, countries with less strongly embedded neocorporatist structures, in which due to organizational deficiencies trade unions face difficulties blocking employer demands, create liberal response strategies, permitting a stratification of wage levels. Hence, both Germany and the Netherlands implemented liberal business-friendly re-regulations.
The volume makes the case for important amendments to existing accounts of Europeanization and varieties of capitalism. Scholars of Europeanization need to incorporate bottom-up re-regulation into their conceptual framework, particularly in response to 'negative integration'. Recent strides in comparative political economy have placed great emphasis on continued divergence, yet this study suggests that even within the presumably unified group of 'non-liberal' coordinated market economies important institutional differences produce very distinct responses in the face of European liberalization.
Reviews / Votes
Review from previous edition An insightful analysis of how the single market actually affects businesses, unions, and governments and how responses to that impact vary cross-nationally. Based on exhaustive fieldwork, this original study sheds new light on how the process of European integration actually works "on the ground". * Prof. Alberta Sbragia, University of Pittsburgh * ...Georg Menz's thorough analysis provides very interesting insights into the development of the Single Market. * Alexandre Afonso, Swiss Political Science Review * The publication of this book will mark a major step forward in our understanding of the contemporary development of the European political economy... More than this, the author succeeds in engaging with, and subjecting to critique, a series of assumptions underpinning existing analyses of the transformation of European capitalist systems. In doing so, we obtain a new understanding of the extent to which national "varieties of European capitalism" can maintain their distinctiveness in the face of new forces for regulatory reform coming from the EU supranational level. * Prof. Martin Rhodes, European University Institute *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Oxford
United Kingdom
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 156 mm
Thickness: 17 mm
Weight
453 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-955103-3 (9780199551033)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Georg Menz
Varieties of Capitalism and Europeanization
National Response Strategies to the Single European Market
E-Book
11/2008
1st Edition
Oxford University Press
€85.40
Available for download

Georg Menz
Varieties of Capitalism and Europeanization
National Response Strategies to the Single European Market
Book
08/2005
Oxford University Press
€74.28
Article exhausted; check different version
Person
Dr Georg Menz is Lecturer in Political Economy, Goldsmiths College, London
Content
1. European Liberalization, National Varieties of Capitalism, and Re-Regulation ; 2. Europeanization Meets Organized Capitalism ; 3. The Institutional Power of Unions and Employers ; 4. National Response Strategies to Transnational Challenges: Developments in France, Germany, and Austria ; 5. Response Strategies Elsewhere in Northern Europe and a Comparison of the Response Capacity of National Models ; 6. Implications and Conclusion ; Appendix A: Industrial Relations in Europe ; Appendix B: A Discussion of the Two Institutionalist Approaches and a Detailed Introduction to the Hypotheses Derived From Them