Adjustments in the Eurozone: Varieties of Capitalism and the Crisis in Southern Europe

42 Pages Posted: 14 May 2014

See all articles by Anke Hassel

Anke Hassel

Hertie School of Governance

Multiple version iconThere are 2 versions of this paper

Date Written: May 13, 2014

Abstract

This paper investigates the causes of, and reactions to, the Eurozone crisis, focusing in particular on the institutional foundations of the four Southern European Eurozone countries that have encountered an acute sovereign debt crisis. Applying the basic arguments featured in the Varieties of Capitalism literature, the paper aims to show how the interaction of the institutional set-up of coordinated and mixed market economies, with the effects of the common currency area, can explain both the evolution of the crisis, as well as the reactions to it. This paper interprets the sovereign debt crisis in the Eurozone as the combination of two features: firstly, the architecture of the common currency area, which instituted a common interest rate for widely heterogeneous regional economies, and secondly, the specific institutional foundations of two types of economies participating in the Eurozone, namely coordinated market economies and mixed market economies. Understanding these two factors and their interaction not only helps to explain why the Southern European countries were particularly vulnerable to exploding public debt, but also why, during the on-going resolution of the Eurozone crisis over the last two years, policy makers have persistently preferred austerity over the mutualisation of debt. The compensatory role of the state in mixed-market economies thereby undermines the effectiveness of financial bail-outs for economic growth strategies.

Keywords: comparative political economy, Varieties of Capitalism, European Monetary Union, institutional analysis

JEL Classification: Z00

Suggested Citation

Hassel, Anke, Adjustments in the Eurozone: Varieties of Capitalism and the Crisis in Southern Europe (May 13, 2014). LEQS Paper No. 76, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2436454 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2436454

Anke Hassel (Contact Author)

Hertie School of Governance ( email )

Friedrichstr. 180
Berlin, 10117
Germany
+49.30.259 219 310 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://www.ankehassel.de

Do you have a job opening that you would like to promote on SSRN?

Paper statistics

Downloads
627
Abstract Views
2,055
Rank
73,108
PlumX Metrics