The Finance Sector in Transition: A Motor for Economic Reform?

In: German politics, Volume 14, Issue 2, p. 140-156

Abstract

Finance used to be the cornerstone of the coordinated model of German capitalism. Restricted competition within the banking sector & stable network relations between industry, banks & also regional governments were seen as preconditions for longer term investment strategies & regional industrial policy. Since the early 1990s, a substantial restructuring has taken place leading to the commodification & re-regulation of financial relations. Despite this overall trend, elements of the stakeholder model are either being sustained or remodelled thus leading to a greater variety of organisational models within the national system of capitalism. It is argued that domestic change is mostly a response to exogenous forces, such as European competition policy, financial globalisation & the re-regulation of finance on different political levels. Exogenous forces are not necessarily constraining domestic actors, but turn into 'opportunity structures' for those willing to push reforms through. Adapted from the source document.