Political Economy: Comparative, International, and Historical Perspectives (Springer Texts in Political Science and International Relations)

This textbook offers a comprehensive introduction to Political Economy. It combines comparative, international and historical perspectives into a holistic framework of analysis. Drawing on the work of Karl Polanyi, the book shows how capitalist economies differ around the globe and how they are embedded in the international economic order. Through a critical-institutionalist lens, it helps toaccount for the evolution of contemporary capitalism and addresses current topics at the intersection of political science and economics. Students and instructors can draw on supplementary material, such as Power Point slides with all figures and tables as well as the Springer Nature Flashcards app with exercises. Preface Contents List of Abbreviations List of Boxes 1: Introduction 1.1 Introduction: The Age of Rescue Packages 1.2 What Is Political Economy? 1.3 The Aim and Structure of the Book 1.4 The Analytical Perspective of the Book 1.5 Conclusion References 2: Theoretical Foundations of Comparative Political Economy 2.1 Introduction: System Competition and the Comparative Method in Political Economy 2.2 Capitalism as a Political Economy of the Modern Era 2.3 The Development of CPE in Historical Context 2.3.1 The Nineteenth Century: Britain vs. Germany 2.3.2 The Early Twentieth Century: The United States vs. Europe 2.3.3 The 1970s and 1980s: Japan vs. Western Europe and the United States 2.4 The Emergence of Comparative Capitalism Studies 2.5 The Supply-Side Institutions of Capitalism 2.6 Problems of Supply Side-Oriented Comparative Capitalism Research 2.7 The Demand-Side Approach of Growth Models 2.8 Conclusion References 3: Capitalist Diversity in High-Income Economies 3.1 Introduction: On Strikes and Salary Negotiations 3.2 Liberal and Coordinated Market Economies in Comparison 3.2.1 Corporate Governance and Finance 3.2.2 Industrial Relations 3.2.3 Training Systems 3.2.4 Welfare Systems 3.2.5 Intercompany Relations 3.2.6 Interim Conclusion: Institutional Complementarities and Sectoral Comparative Advantages 3.3 Growth Models in High-Income Economies 3.3.1 Debt-Led Growth in LMEs 3.3.2 Export-Led Growth in CMEs 3.3.3 Global and Regional Imbalances: The Eurozone Crisis 3.4 Conclusion References 4: Capitalist Diversity in Emerging Economies 4.1 Introduction: Where Are Cars Manufactured and Who Are the Owners of Production? 4.2 Comparing Dependent and State-Permeated Market Economies 4.2.1 Corporate Governance and Corporate Finance 4.2.2 Industrial Relations 4.2.3 Welfare Systems 4.2.4 Training Systems 4.2.5 Intercompany Relations 4.2.6 International Integration 4.2.7 Interim Summary: Institutional Complementarities and Sectoral Comparative Advantages 4.3 Development Strategies and Growth Models in Emerging Economies 4.3.1 Development Strategies in Emerging Economies 4.3.2 Macroeconomic Growth Models in Emerging Economies 4.4 Pitfalls in Emerging Market Capitalism 4.4.1 Hierarchical Market Economies in Latin America 4.4.2 Rentier States 4.5 Conclusion References 5: Theoretical Foundations of International Political Economy 5.1 Introduction: Foreign Economic Policy During the Covid-19 Pandemic 5.2 The Importance of IPE and its Theories for Understanding Capitalism 5.3 Theories with a Background in IR: From Liberalism and Mercantilism to Open Economy Politics 5.4 Generic Theories of Capitalism: Marx, World Systems Theory, and Neo-Gramscian Perspectives 5.5 Combinations of CPE and IPE: Second Image and Second Image Reversed 5.6 Theory Imports from the Humanities: Constructivism, Poststructuralism, Feminism, and Postcolonial Perspectives 5.7 Conclusion References 6: Money and Financial Systems 6.1 Introduction: In Money We Trust? 6.2 The Problem with Money in Modern Capitalism 6.2.1 What Is Money? 6.2.2 Satisfying Capital Needs 6.2.3 The Instability of Money and Financial Markets 6.2.4 A Global Economy Despite National Currencies 6.3 National Financial Systems 6.4 Global Financial Flows, Global Hierarchies 6.5 Global Finance and Its Regulation 6.6 Conclusion References 7: Trade and Markets 7.1 Introduction: On Coffee Farmers and Roasting Companies 7.2 The Role of Markets and Trade in Capitalism 7.2.1 The Market as Allocation Mechanism 7.2.2 Trade Theories from Ricardo to Krugman 7.3 International Trade and National Economic Models 7.4 The Development of Global Trade Flows 7.5 Trade Policy and International Trade Regimes 7.6 Conclusion References 8: Production and Corporations 8.1 Introduction: The Razor Blade in the International Political Economy 8.2 Innovation and Production as Organizational Problems: The Establishment of Multinational Enterprises 8.3 Comparing Foreign Direct Investment Regulations Internationally and Historically 8.4 The Emergence of Global Value Chains 8.5 International Regulation of Investments 8.6 Conclusion References 9: Labor and Migration 9.1 Introduction: On Pay Gaps and Equal Opportunities 9.2 The Role of Labor in Capitalism 9.3 Labor Regimes in Global and Historical Comparison 9.3.1 Liberalization and Deregulation 9.3.2 Informalization and Segmentation 9.4 Transnational Migration 9.5 International Regulation of Labor 9.6 Conclusion References 10: Welfare, Inequality, and Social Reproduction 10.1 Introduction: The International Political Economy of Doing the Dishes 10.2 Capitalism and the Necessity of Social Reproduction 10.3 The Organization of Reproduction: Welfare states, Financial Markets, and Private Households 10.4 Transnational Care Chains 10.5 Social Inequality in Global Perspective 10.6 Development Cooperation as Global Social Policy? 10.7 Conclusion References 11: Climate and the Environment 11.1 Introduction: Sand in the Gears of Capitalism 11.2 Political Economy, Nature as a Commodity, and the Problem of “Negative Externalities” 11.3 Climate and Capitalist Diversity 11.4 Climate Change and Governance in Transnational Perspective 11.4.1 Causes: Trade and Global Value Chains 11.4.2 Responses: Transnational Governance 11.5 The Political Economy of International Climate Politics 11.5.1 IPE Perspectives 11.5.2 North-South Fault Lines 11.5.3 Geopolitics and Climate 11.6 Conclusion References 12: Theoretical Foundations of Historical Political Economy 12.1 Introduction: Does History Rhyme? 12.2 The Historical in Political Economy 12.3 Intertemporal Theoretical Approaches to Political Economy 12.3.1 Business Cycle Theories 12.3.2 Forms of Capitalism in Regulation Theory 12.3.3 Political Economy and World-Political Cycles of Hegemony 12.3.4 Neo-Gramscian Periodizations 12.3.5 The Crisis Theory of the Social Structures of Accumulation 12.4 An Integrative Heuristic of Intertemporal Political Economy 12.5 Conclusion References 13: Fordism and Embedded Liberalism: The Economic Order Between World War II and the 1970s 13.1 Introduction: The Rise of the Middle Class 13.2 The Golden Age of Capitalism in the Global North 13.3 Fordism as a Mode of Production 13.4 Embedded Liberalism as International Regulation 13.5 The Collapse of the Model in the 1970s 13.6 Development Paths Outside the Global North and the Demands for a New International Economic Order 13.7 Conclusion References 14: Globalization, Financialization, and Neoliberalism: The Economic Order of the 1980s to 2010s 14.1 Introduction: There Is No Such Thing as Society 14.2 Globalization as a New Age of Capitalism? 14.3 Financialization as a Central Change in the Mode of Production 14.4 Neoliberalism as a Political Agenda 14.5 The Neoliberal World Economic Order 14.6 Tendencies of Erosion in the Neoliberal-Financialized Accumulation Regime 14.7 Conclusion References 15: The Coming Phase of Capitalism: An Age of State Capitalism and Populism? 15.1 Introduction: Science Fiction or “The Future Is Open” 15.2 Recapitulation: Habitation, Improvement, and Phases of Capitalism 15.3 State Capitalism as an Economic Model for a New Phase of Habitation? 15.4 Global Populism as a Political Agenda of Habitation? 15.5 A Populist-State Capitalist World Economic Order? 15.6 Conclusion: An Invitation to Informed Speculation References Index