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Introduction

Adrienne Héritier

in Explaining Institutional Change in Europe

This introductory chapter begins with brief a discussion of how and why institutions change. It then presents the different questions addressed by the book.

Plan of the Book

Adrienne Héritier

in Explaining Institutional Change in Europe

This chapter presents an overview of the topics discussed in this volume.

Theories of Institutional Change

Adrienne Héritier

in Explaining Institutional Change in Europe

This chapter presents theories of institutional change. It begins with a discussion of the definition of institutions. It then discusses the concepts of institutional change, rational choice ... More

This chapter presents theories of institutional change. It begins with a discussion of the definition of institutions. It then discusses the concepts of institutional change, rational choice institutionalism, and distributional rational choice institutionalism.Less

Conclusion: Exit, Voice, and Loyalty as Analytical Framework

Jochen Prantl

in The UN Security Council and Informal Groups of States

This chapter develops various propositions on the dynamics between informal groups of states and the UN Security Council by applying the analytical framework of exit, voice, and loyalty. It argues ... More

This chapter develops various propositions on the dynamics between informal groups of states and the UN Security Council by applying the analytical framework of exit, voice, and loyalty. It argues that informal mechanisms may enhance SC governance if they are able to strike a balance between inclusiveness, efficiency, informality, transparency, and accountability.Less

Conclusion: Explaining Institutional Change in Europe … and Beyond

Adrienne Héritier

in Explaining Institutional Change in Europe

This chapter draws conclusions from the theoretical interpretation of the five empirical cases. It briefly outlines the typical features of the long-term change of each case and the book's ... More

This chapter draws conclusions from the theoretical interpretation of the five empirical cases. It briefly outlines the typical features of the long-term change of each case and the book's theoretical explanations. The chapter then compares the developments of the institutional rules across cases and identifies the important aspects of the empirical stories that were not exhibited by any of the theories discussed in Chapter 1. The scope conditions of the theories that have been employed are discussed and the question of whether the theoretical insights gained on the basis of the five case studies may be extended to processes of institutional change beyond the European Union is addressed.Less

Change in Institutional Fields

C. R. Hinings and Namrata Malhotra

in The Institutions of the Market: Organizations, Social Systems, and Governance

This chapter examines institutional change at the field level of analysis. In doing so, it provides an overview of the work on archetypes and institutional change that has been developed ... More

This chapter examines institutional change at the field level of analysis. In doing so, it provides an overview of the work on archetypes and institutional change that has been developed theoretically and empirically through work on municipalities, accounting, law, architecture and management consulting firms, health care organizations, and sport organizations. The dynamics of change involve inter-organizational relations as well as the activities of individual organizations and groups within organizations. Organizational responses to institutional change need to involve aspects like values, interest, and power. The proposed process model of institutional change then addresses the de-institutionalization as well as the re-institutionalization of organizational components as an evolutionary process.Less

Conclusion: From Path Dependence to Path Departure?

Bernhard Ebbinghaus

in Reforming Early Retirement in Europe, Japan and the USA

This concluding chapter summarizes the main findings of the book, evaluating the protection-oriented ‘pull’ and production-oriented ‘push’ approaches to explain the long-term development and ... More

This concluding chapter summarizes the main findings of the book, evaluating the protection-oriented ‘pull’ and production-oriented ‘push’ approaches to explain the long-term development and cross-national variations in early exit from work. It discusses the difficulties of ‘path dependence’ as well as the opportunities of institutional change to reverse early retirement policies. It recommends a paradigm shift away from early retirement in combination with integration policies that facilitate older workers to remain active.Less

Two Institutional Changes

Tetsuro Toya and Jennifer Amyx

in The Political Economy of the Japanese Financial Big Bang: Institutional Change in Finance and Public Policymaking

This chapter situates the Big Bang within broader financial sector developments and in the political economy in general. It uses the framework of ‘institutional change’ introduced in Chapter 3 to ... More

This chapter situates the Big Bang within broader financial sector developments and in the political economy in general. It uses the framework of ‘institutional change’ introduced in Chapter 3 to understand the larger changes taking place in finance. It shows the causal mechanism through which the observed changes in financial politics occurred, while demonstrating how the components of the Financial Convoy related to one another, triggering the breakdown of the Convoy. The breakdown of the Convoy and the decay of bureaupluralism are observed, and the future of the latter is predicted.Less

How do Systems Change?: Actors, Preferences, Strategies, and Institutions in Financial Politics

Tetsuro Toya and Jennifer Amyx

in The Political Economy of the Japanese Financial Big Bang: Institutional Change in Finance and Public Policymaking

This chapter has two main objectives. First, it introduces the theoretical frameworks of institutional change and organizational survival to be utilized in later chapters to make sense of the ... More

This chapter has two main objectives. First, it introduces the theoretical frameworks of institutional change and organizational survival to be utilized in later chapters to make sense of the development in financial politics. Second, it constructs possible scenarios regarding financial reforms by identifying the actors and deriving their preferences based on observed behavioral regularities. It shows how the starting assumption — that organizations seek survival — applies more broadly to actors in the political economy. These actors include political parties, bureaucratic agencies, firms, and interest groups. Through this process, the institutions in Japanese finance (the Convoy) and public policymaking (bureaupluralism) that prevailed until the first half of the 1990s are identified.Less

Institutional Evolution and the Political Economy of Governance

Alexander Ebner

in The Institutions of the Market: Organizations, Social Systems, and Governance

This chapter examines the co-evolutionary relationship between markets and states as a path-dependent process that reflects the social construction of institutional change. It reviews the major ... More

This chapter examines the co-evolutionary relationship between markets and states as a path-dependent process that reflects the social construction of institutional change. It reviews the major contributions to the governance approach, as originally provided by the new institutional economics and subsequently extended in the transdisciplinary discourse of the new institutionalism. Oliver E. Williamson's transaction cost approach to governance is examined, offering insights into the notion of private ordering as a governance device. Douglass C. North's theory of the institutional evolution of markets and states and, Mancur Olson's collective action approach to governance are then considered.Less

Introduction: The Paradox of Early Exit from Work

Bernhard Ebbinghaus

in Reforming Early Retirement in Europe, Japan and the USA

Early retirement has become a major issue of current welfare state reforms in aging societies. This introductory chapter discusses the different protection-oriented ‘pull’ and production-oriented ... More

Early retirement has become a major issue of current welfare state reforms in aging societies. This introductory chapter discusses the different protection-oriented ‘pull’ and production-oriented ‘push’ factors that caused more early exit from work prior to age 65. It argues for systematic comparison of welfare regimes, production systems, and labor relations, as well as the study of the key role of social partners in institutional change.Less

Explaining Economic Change: The Relations of Institutions, Politics, and Culture 1

John Harriss

in The Institutions of the Market: Organizations, Social Systems, and Governance

This chapter examines the role of politics, power, and culture in the explanation of institutional change. It criticizes the rational choice framework of the new institutional economics for its ... More

This chapter examines the role of politics, power, and culture in the explanation of institutional change. It criticizes the rational choice framework of the new institutional economics for its apparent limitations in theorizing on these issues. It underlines the analytical advantages of historical institutionalism. The conflict among social classes and the institutional substance of power structures are of particular analytical significance. They are interrelated factors in the evolution of cultural values, as exemplified by the case of Indian economic development and its socio-political underpinnings.Less

Introduction

Jochen Prantl

in The UN Security Council and Informal Groups of States

This chapter introduces and defines the terms ‘informal groups of states’, ‘groups of friends’, and ‘contact groups’. It develops a synergistic analytical framework, identifying the causal mechanisms ... More

This chapter introduces and defines the terms ‘informal groups of states’, ‘groups of friends’, and ‘contact groups’. It develops a synergistic analytical framework, identifying the causal mechanisms that contribute to the formation of informal groups of states by borrowing from insights of theories of agency and delegation. It challenges the proposition that centralization and independence are key functional characteristics of international organizations which enhance efficiency. Instead, it argues that decentralization via informal groups of states allows the achievement of policy goals that would be unattainable in a centralized setting. The typology of exit, voice, and loyalty is incorporated into analytical framework to explain the dynamics between informal groups and the Security Council. Such an approach provides substantial explanatory leverage to explain the institutional effects of the Security Council under conditions of systemic change. The chapter concludes with an outline of the book’s contents.Less

Co‐evolution of Technologies and Institutions in Market Economies *

Richard R. Nelson

in The Institutions of the Market: Organizations, Social Systems, and Governance

This chapter argues that economists are right in seeing ‘the right institutions’ as the key to economic productivity and progressiveness. But for the argument to be delved deeper, it needs to be ... More

This chapter argues that economists are right in seeing ‘the right institutions’ as the key to economic productivity and progressiveness. But for the argument to be delved deeper, it needs to be recognized that there is a very real challenge; the magnitude of the challenge is only beginning to be understood. The conglomerate of things different economists have called institutions largely reflects the fact that many different kinds of structures and forces mould the way individuals and organizations interact to get things done — so-called ‘social technologies’. Economic growth involves the co-evolution of technologies and the institutions needed for their effective operation and advancement. Some institutions provide the broad background conditions under which technologies can proceed, and others come into existence and develop to support the important new technologies that are driving growth. The chapter reviews the processes of institutional change and argues that institutional change, and its influence on economic activity, is much more difficult to direct and control than technological change, and hence prevailing institutions are often drags on economic productivity and progressiveness. The evolution of technology and institutions in pharmaceutical biotech is considered.Less

Large-Scale Institutional Change

Christopher K. Ansell

in Pragmatist Democracy: Evolutionary Learning as Public Philosophy

This chapter explores the possibilities of evolutionary learning on a large-scale by examining macro-institutional change. The chapter conceives of large-scale institutional change as a ... More

This chapter explores the possibilities of evolutionary learning on a large-scale by examining macro-institutional change. The chapter conceives of large-scale institutional change as a constitutional process and treats “meta-concepts” as the focal points of this change. Meta-concepts become a platform for institutional evolution when they are multi-vocal and teleological “boundary objects.” The institutionalization of the concept of “sustainable development” illustrates the power and limits of meta-concepts.Less

Introduction: Beyond Varieties of Capitalism

Bob Hancké, Martin Rhodes, and Mark Thatcher

in Beyond Varieties of Capitalism: Conflict, Contradictions, and Complementarities in the European Economy

This introductory chapter ties together themes running through all the chapters in this volume. It discusses critiques of the Varieties of Capitalism or VoC approach in four areas in which it has ... More

This introductory chapter ties together themes running through all the chapters in this volume. It discusses critiques of the Varieties of Capitalism or VoC approach in four areas in which it has proven most vulnerable to criticism, and proposes a framework to address these. First, the chapter analyses the role of political and distributive struggles in generating change and adjustment. Second, it reconsiders the nature and function of complementarities in shaping and constraining institutional change. Third, the chapter extends the VoC approach to a broader range of political economies than traditionally receives attention, from southern Europe to Central and Eastern Europe and Russia. Fourth, it restores the role of the state in VoC analysis, not just where that role is most overt, but as an important factor in the construction everywhere of what Hall calls ‘institutional ecologies’. The chapter then uses these insights to understand the shifts in the contemporary political economy of Europe.Less

The Quest for Coherence: Institutional Dilemmas of External Action from Maastricht to Amsterdam

Michael E. Smith

in The Institutionalization of Europe

The focus of this chapter is on the institutionalization of a space for the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP), and on efforts since the signing of the Maastricht Treaty on European Union ... More

The focus of this chapter is on the institutionalization of a space for the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP), and on efforts since the signing of the Maastricht Treaty on European Union (TEU) to link the CFSP with other European Union (EU) domains under a principle of coherence. In the light of unfavourable perceptions about institutional performance in the conduct of EU external relations, and the perceived need for change, two major questions are addressed: the kinds of institutional problems that have resulted from the TEU’s provisions on external relations; and the extent to which, and how, these problems have been resolved. The chapter first maps out the EU’s institutional space in the policy domains most directly concerned with external relations, and then shows how these mechanisms created new problems, and thus pressures for institutional change, once the TEU came into effect. These problems are defined primarily in terms of institutional gaps and contradictions across the EU’s external policy domains. Finally, the attempts of the EU to resolve these problems through two sets of institutional reforms, one informal and the other formal, are described.Less