Partisan Politics and Institutional (Re)Creation: Locating and Explaining the Origins of Modern Finance Capitalism

West European Politics, 2010, Vol. 33, No. 6: 1187-1213.

31 Pages Posted: 24 Sep 2007 Last revised: 23 Oct 2012

See all articles by Richard W. Carney

Richard W. Carney

China Europe International Business School (CEIBS)

Date Written: January 1, 2010

Abstract

Why do some countries rely more heavily on equities markets, while others depend more on commercial banking? Analyses of the origins of contemporary capitalist institutions usually look back to the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. However, this paper demonstrates that financial institutions - regarded as central to the way capitalist systems are organized - changed radically in the mid-twentieth century in many countries. This paper argues that government partisanship that is sensitive to these formative moments of institutional (re)creation can better account for their modern manifestation than prominent alternative explanations. A new measure of partisanship that is sensitive to these institutional transformations is presented. Case studies on Germany and France offer evidence consistent with this argument.

Keywords: Politics, Finance, Europe, Germany France

JEL Classification: P16, P5, N2, J5

Suggested Citation

Carney, Richard W., Partisan Politics and Institutional (Re)Creation: Locating and Explaining the Origins of Modern Finance Capitalism (January 1, 2010). West European Politics, 2010, Vol. 33, No. 6: 1187-1213., Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1015982 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1015982

Richard W. Carney (Contact Author)

China Europe International Business School (CEIBS) ( email )

Shanghai-Hongfeng Road
Shanghai 201206
Shanghai 201206
China

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