Political Economy

This book approaches markets as a dynamic ensemble of institutions; and as a set of rules or norms, that contribute to the evolution of social systems of governance, and can be analysed as a structured social system. It tackles such questions as: Where do markets come from and what drives their evolution? How do organizations cope with the competitive dynamism of markets? What is the role of governance mechanisms in the institutional coordination of markets? Using this ‘new institutionalist’ approach, this book examines the institutional foundations of economic change. Drawn from an array of disciplines, including Business, Organization Studies, Economics, and Sociology, the contributors address the organizational capabilities of firms, the social structuration of competition, and the diversity of governance mechanisms in the market.

This book provides an exposition of key issues in the development, steering, and management of the Internet. Much of its focus is on the governance of the infrastructure for Internet communication, particularly data transmission protocols, protocol addresses, and corresponding domain names. It also maps the development and application of core principles of network design for the Internet. A recurrent theme of the book is the challenges associated with establishing global, multi-stakeholder governance structures based on bottom-up, consensus-seeking decisional procedures, without direct foundation in a treaty framework. The book's basic argument is that the success of the Internet is largely due to its development within open and democratic cultures, and that Internet governance structures ought accordingly to continue to cultivate such cultures.

Between 1980 and 1985, the French economy and industry faced a dramatic crisis; in the ten years that followed, it witnessed a remarkable revival. How did the French economy make this transition? While the state is still an important economic agent in France, and the market certainly has become more central in the organization of the French economy, both state- and market-centred perspectives fail to understand critical elements of this adjustment. Building on the new Varieties of Capitalism approach in political economy, which puts firms at the centre of the analysis, this book argues that the post-war, state-led system changed into a system organized by and around the large firms. Large firms have always been central in the French post-war economic development model. In the past, however, they adapted to patterns set by the central state. By exploiting the possibilities in government policies in different areas such as finance, labour relations, and regional policies, the large firms were able to induce their main interlocutors — the state, banks, labour unions, workers, and small firms — to adjust in a way that was congruent with their own interests. From subservient economic agents, they became the drivers of economic adjustment. Through this case study of readjustment in France, this book offers a critique of neo-institutionalist perspectives on firms. By analysing how large firms in France changed their institutional environment to fit their own needs, this book offers a perspective on the political economy of industrial and economic change.

Recent market turmoil, bank runs, global equities sell-off, and the ‘credit crunch’ have demonstrated the sophisticated and interconnected nature of financial markets today — seemingly localized problems have quickly spread, putting at risk the solvency of both local and global financial institutions. As these markets are increasingly complex, interconnected, and embedded in the daily lives of individuals, there is a pressing need to unravel and understand the complexities and prospects of this new and transformative social, political, and geographical paradigm. This book brings together a group of scholars from a range of disciplines to formulate a more holistic understanding of financial risk by rooting it in different environments, spatial scales, and disciplines.

This book seeks to understand the precarious margins of late‐capitalist labour markets. Its point of departure is the prevailing view that the full‐time continuous job or the standard employment relationship (SER) is being eclipsed by part‐time and temporary paid employment and self‐employment. To the extent that such a shift is taking place, what are its implications for precarious employment and those struggling against it? Addressing this question, the book examines the construction, consolidation, and contraction of the SER, taking as its focus the contested emergence—within, amongst and across different nation states—of regulations on ‘non‐standard’ forms of employment. These regulations ‘see’ the problem of precarious employment in ‘non‐standard’, which leads them to seek solutions minimizing deviations from the SER. Managing the Margins labels such approaches ‘SER‐centric’ and illustrates how they leave intact the precarious margins of the labour market. The book employs three conceptual lenses—the normative model of employment, the gender contract, and citizenship boundaries. Chapters 1 to 3 sketch the gendered development of regulations forging the SER in parts of Western Europe, Australia, Canada, and the US, and its evolution in the International Labour Code. Chapters 4 to 6 examine post‐1990 international labour regulations responding to precariousness in employment—focusing on the ILO Convention on Part‐Time Work, EU Directives on Fixed‐Term and Temporary Agency Work, and the ILO Recommendation on the Employment Relationship. To assess their logic, these chapters use illustrations of the regulation of part‐time employment in Australia, temporary employment in the EU 15, and self‐employment in OECD countries. The book concludes by assessing alternatives to SER‐centrism.

Manufacturing Possibilities examines adjustment dynamics in the steel, automobile and machinery industries in Germany, the U.S., and Japan since World War II. Using detailed historical and interview based contemporary analysis, the book shows that as national industrial actors in each sector try to compete in global markets, they recompose firm and industry boundaries, producer strategies, stakeholder interests and governance mechanisms at all levels of their political economies. Theoretically, the book marks a departure from both neoliberal economic and historical institutionalist perspectives on change in advanced political economies. It characterizes industrial change as a creative, bottom up, process driven by reflective social actors. The alternative view consists of two distinctive claims. The first is that action is social, reflective and ultimately creative. When their interactive habits are disrupted, industrial actors seek to repair their relations by reconceiving them. Such imaginative interaction redefines interest and causes unforeseen possibilities for action to emerge, enabling actors to trump existing rules and constraints. Second, industrial change driven by creative action is recompositional. In the social process of reflection, actors rearrange, modify, reconceive and reposition inherited organizational forms and governance mechanisms as they experiment with solutions to the challenges that they face. Continuity in relations is interwoven with continuous reform and change. Most remarkably, creativity in the recomposition process makes the introduction of entirely new practices and relations possible. Ultimately, the message of Manufacturing Possibilities is that social study of change in advanced political economies should devote itself to the discovery of possibility. Preoccupation with constraint and failure to appreciate the capaciousness of reflective social action has led much of contemporary debate to misrecognize the dynamics of change. As a result, discussion of the range of adjustment possibilities has been unnecessarily limited.

The crisis in Asia has caused economic hardship and brought an end to the ‘economic miracle’ of fast economic growth in the region. This book asks whether the 1997/8 crisis marks a break with the past and signals an end to ‘Asian’ ways of running economies. During the period of rapid growth there were strong connections between governments and business in the region. ‘Cronyism’, or close connections between family, business, and government, was exposed when the stock markets and currencies dived. Pressure from overseas investors and international organisations has produced reforms in the region. The book examines the social, economic, and political modes of governance in the region. It finds that there is a shifting balance between rule by the market, rule by connections, and rule by force. In the sphere of economic management, it shows that the period of the ‘developmental state’ in Japan and Korea has come to an end, but that it has not yet been replaced by a liberal market. Elsewhere the close connections between governments and business have been weakened but not yet broken. There are still special ‘Asian’ characteristics in economic management and in politics. The forces of ‘globalisation’ are strong, but they are confronted with political and economic cultures that are not rooted in liberal market ethics.

The challenge confronting governments around the world today is to enhance the employability of the workforce. Every effort must be made to expand access to higher education, disregard social circumstances, gender, and other such barriers to talent, and to harness human creativity and enterprise to meet the demands of the new economy. However, people who have attained higher education are having trouble finding jobs, with rising stakes for the winners and losers. This book examines what determines the outcome of this race when a degree loses its badge of distinction. It shows how some graduates are playing ‘the game’ to win a competitive advantage, and what really happens in the selection events of leading-edge employers. It also argues that talent is being mismanaged by employers that have yet to come to terms with the realities and possibilities of mass higher education.

This book studies the way that British, American, and German firms in the clothing industry (manufacturing and retail) co-ordinate and govern their global production networks/value chains. It offers a multi-level analysis, concerned with processes of economic interaction between international, regional, and national economic institutions and actors. This combines an analysis of international/regional regulatory systems, global markets, and conditions in the developing countries where suppliers are found with a focus on the recent development of the clothing industry in three western countries. The book's study of firms' global networks focuses on the power relationships between western producers and retailers on the one hand and between buyer firms in developed and supplier firms in developing countries on the other. The book additionally investigates their impact on labour. Utilizing over a hundred interviews in six countries on three continents, it follows the value chain from developed to developing countries and studies the many issues which confront students of globalization at the current time. The book combines theoretical perspectives from economic sociology, political economy, and management and seeks to utilise the complementary strengths of the Varieties of Capitalism (VoC) approach and that of Global Production Networks/Value Chains.