Limits of VoC and institutional complementarities in the semi-periphery: comparative analysis of reforms in Brazil and India

Abstract

In VoC theories, adopted in OECD countries, the state does not fulfill an important role in the productive system. On the other hand, by analyzing the trajectory of the semi-periphery countries, there is no way to describe the mechanisms of institutional complementarity without holding the state in the center of the model. That’s the trajectories of Brazil and India. To evaluate the role of the state as a strategic actor in semiperipheral institutional complementarity this proposal suggests analyze the role of the state in the commanding heights of economic liberalization. In particular, the role of public banks and pension funds as anti-cyclical and coordinators actors of the new corporate ownership restructuring and external insertion adopted by large conglomerates in Brasil and India in the past ten years. Understanding this is crucial to point out the limits of theories of varieties of capitalism, providing assistance to expand its analytical scope.