The industrialized economies of the world have experienced a considerable diversity of economic experience since the shocks of the 1970s. The authors of this major study assess the institutional determinants of economic performance in a comparative analysis of OECD economies. They focus in particular on the role played by corporatist arrangements in such countries as Austria and the Scandinavian states. Corporatism and Economic Performance argues that economists often have a narrow view of the scope and function of corporatism, focusing on the extent to which collective bargaining is centralized, and ignoring the important role of durable, consensual policy making arrangements. The record of the corporatist economies is assessed and considerable evidence is found to show that they have borne the burden of economic adjustment over the last twenty years in a less inegalitarian way than other OECD economies, with lower rates of unemployment and greater economic stability. In an increasingly integrated world economy, the future prospects for corporatism look uncertain, although there is still a strong economic case for corporatist institutions. This book sheds new light on corporatism as a complex and multidimensional entity, examining the rationale, scope, performance and future prospects of corporatist institutions.

Wages and Profits in the Capitalist Economy provides an incisive study of the impact of monopolistic power on macroeconomic performance in the USA and the UK since 1945, within a post-Kaleckian framework.It provides new evidence to suggest that the implications of monopolistic power, in both product and labour markets, are important in understanding macroeconomic performance. It argues that the rise and fall in profitability that accompanies the cycle of boom and recession is indicative of the operation of oligopolistic markets. Furthermore, the political economy of the distribution of income exacerbates macroeconomic instability. The book concludes that traditional Keynesian approaches favouring solutions to increase economic growth, and neoclassical approaches advocating supply-side policies to suppress conflict over distribution, may offer little prospect of long-term economic stability.