Internationalisation and Economic Institutions - Comparing the European Experience

* Winner of Charles H. Levine Prize This book examines when, how, and why internationalisation affects national economic institutions. It confronts questions at the heart of debates in political economy and comparative politics: What does internationalisation of markets mean? Who are its carriers in domestic arenas? Through which mechanisms does it affect decisions about national institutional reform? What are the patterns of institutional outcomes in the face of internationalisation? To respond to its questions, the book looks at developments in five strategic sectors: securities trading, telecommunications, electricity, airlines, and postal services. It compares four countries, each representing a different 'variety of capitalism', namely Britain, France, Germany, and Italy, over the period between 1965 and 2005. Thus it combines cross-national, historical, and cross-sectoral comparisons. The author distinguishes technological and economic forms of internationalisation from policy forms, namely regulatory change in powerful overseas nations and by the EU. He shows that, contrary to expectations, the first made little impact, whereas regulatory reforms by the US, Britain, and the EU, undermined long-standing national institutions. They did so by aiding governments to build and lead reform coalitions, through increasing fears of regulatory competition, offering occasions for reconsideration of existing institutions and providing legitimation for new ones. Whilst the impacts of policy forms of internationalisation varied across nations, giving rise to diverse reform paths, the overall institutional outcomes were that all four countries adopted increasingly similar reforms of economic institutions. This book rejects the view that technological and economic forms of internationalisation drive institutional change in and of themselves. Instead it shows that policy forms of internationalisation are influential because they become part of domestic decision making and thereby spur reform, even of deeply-entrenched national institutions.

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Readership:

Scholars and students of political science, particularly those interested in political economy, public policy, law, and Europeanization.

1: Analysing market internationalisation and national institutions Part 1. Internationalisation of finance: securities trading 1965-2005 2: The internationalisation of securities markets 3: Common pressures, diverse paths: securities trading in France, West Germany and Italy 1965-86 4: From Conservatism to Revolution: British stock exchange regulation 1965-2005 5: Transformation and convergence: stock exchanges in France, Germany and Italy 1986-2005 Part 2. Internationalisation of communications: telecommunications 1965-2005 6: Internationalisation of Telecommunications markets 7: The power of inertia: telecommunications in France, West Germany and Italy 1965-1987 8: Telecommunications in Britain: from laggard to leader 9: The European path to radical reform: Telecommunications in France, Germany and Italy 1988-2005 Part 3. Extending the analysis: Policy Forms of Internationalisation 10: Power politics: electricity supply in Europe 11: Changing course: airlines in Europe 12: Liberalising the Letter: The reform of postal services Part 4. Internationalisation, Markets and Politics 13: Conclusion: market internationalisation and national economic institutions