Varieties of Capitalism, Growth Regimes, and Structural Change in Eurozone Core and Peripheral Countries: Germany as a Role Model for Portugal?

Abstract

This article aims at analyzing the structural changes that occurred in the Portuguese economy after the 2010/2013 sovereign debt crisis, compared with what occurred in Germany and using the current debate surrounding the new reform of the Eurozone as a backdrop. We thus intend to find out whether a peripheral southern economy like Portugal and the Eurozone’s core economy (Germany) have become closer and, if so, what that means in terms of the sustainability of the Eurozone as a set of different economies sharing the same currency. The study is framed in an institutional political economy approach (Varieties of Capitalism) and a macroeconomic post-Keynesian perspective (demand-led growth regimes), as well as a structural analysis of economic complexity and product specialization of these contrasting economies.