Varieties of Capitalism in Southern Europe Since the Crisis

Abstract

This panel examines the evolution of the national models of political economy and performance of the Southern European states in the context of financial and economic crisis. The organizing perspective is the Varieties of capitalism framework as an analytical tool for studying national trajectories and regional structuring as a result of the crisis. The objective is to develop fine-grained analyses of the relative distinctiveness, convergence, and capacity for transformation of the institutions of political economy in Southern Europe due to domestic and external pressure. As anticipated by the Varieties of capitalism literature, the main focus of the panel will be on establishing the relative resilience of the national institutional foundations of political economy in Southern Europe, their potential convergence and/or transformation due to requirements for structural reform, liberalization and deregulation, repositioning among the social partners, change in the standards of corporate governance, and replacement of traditional policy paradigms. The panel welcomes theoretically and empirically focused papers which examine the capacity for structural change in the institutional configurations in place in the Southern European countries. Special attention will be given to the social aspects of the national models of political economy and the political debates which have informed the interactions of private and public actors in response to the crisis. Last but not least, has the Varieties of capitalism framework maintained its ability to account for institutional distinctiveness, adjustment, convergence, and transformation in the governance systems of Southern Europe vis-à-vis alternative explanations anchored in institutional isomorphism, conditionality, or political agency?

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