Abstract

Trajectories of Neoliberal Transformation: European Industrial Relations since the 1970s. By Lucio Baccaro and Chris Howell. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2017. 268p. $93.99 cloth, $29.99 paper.

Highlights

  • The first two chapters of the book present a wellreasoned theoretical argument about the dynamism of capitalism and the likelihood of institutional change, drawing on power resource theory and regulation theory

  • The authors revive from earlier generations of comparative political economy (CPE) research a mechanical notion of institutional equilibria, which sees the institutions that regulate capitalism as “resultants of competing forces” (p. 13), as opposed to a game-theoretical notion in which institutional equilibria are states of the world in which no actor has an incentive to change

  • Continuity in the distinct forms of industrial relations institutions across countries is perfectly compatible with functional convergence of these institutions, which is achieved through institutional conversion enabled by shifting power balances

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Summary

Introduction

The first two chapters of the book present a wellreasoned theoretical argument about the dynamism of capitalism and the likelihood of institutional change, drawing on power resource theory and regulation theory. Continuity in the distinct forms of industrial relations institutions across countries is perfectly compatible with functional convergence of these institutions, which is achieved through institutional conversion enabled by shifting power balances.

Results
Conclusion

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