68341 - COMPARATIVE POLITICAL ECONOMY

Academic Year 2022/2023

  • Docente: Rosa Mulè
  • Credits: 10
  • SSD: SPS/04
  • Language: Italian

Learning outcomes

L'insegnamento mira a fornire gli strumenti teorici ed empirici di base per l’analisi comparativa dei principali modelli di political economy dei paesi capitalisti. Alla fine del corso lo studente sarà in grado di: • analizzare le somiglianze e le differenze che intercorrono tra diversi modelli di paesi capitalisti • porre ‘Research Questions' concernenti gli strumenti volti a comprendere i meccanismi di political economy

Course contents

ourse design and objectives

The course is designed to explore the frontiers of interaction between politics and economics by engaging comparative research on varieties of political economies. It focuses on approaches that conceptualise different models of capitalism and investigates the role of political actors, institutions and interest groups in shaping and transforming these models.

The course is structured around two key questions: To what extent do differences in institutional settings shape fundamentally different models of democratic capitalism? What is the role of institutions, firms and labour unions in determining the different arrangements we find in capitalist countries?

Readings/Bibliography

Introduction

Question: What is comparative political economy?

Required reading

Menz, G. 2017. Comparative Political Economy, Oxford, Oxford University Press. Chapter 1 and 2 (available on UNIBO Oxford online).

Walter, S., 2021. The Backlash Against Globalization, Annual Review of Political Science, 24 :421-442.

Further reading

Gourevitch, P. 2008. The role of politics in economic development, Annual Review of Political Science, 11:137–59.

Amable, B., Regan, A., Avdagic, S., Baccaro, L., Pontusson, J., and N. Van der Zwan. 2019. New approaches to political economy, Socio-Economic Review, Vol. 17: 433–459.

Iversen,T. and D. Soskice. 2019. Democracy and Prosperity. Reinventing Capitalism through a Turbulent Century, Princeton University Press.

Globalisation and comparative political economy: contending approaches

Question: Is globalization eroding the nation-state?

Required reading

Menz, G. 2017. Comparative Political Economy, Oxford, Oxford University Press. Chapter 2, section 2.5 ‘CPE and the Globalization Debate’ (available on UNIBO Oxford online).

Mann, M. 1997. Has globalization ended the rise and rise of the nation-state? Review of International Political Economy, 4.

Bordo, M. Eichengreen, B. J. Irwin, D. A. 1999, Is Globalization Today Really Different than Globalization 100 years ago? NBER Working Paper No. 7195, pp. 1-27.

Further reading

Rommel, T. and S. Walter. 2018. The Electoral Consequences of Offshoring: How the Globalization of Production Shapes Party Preferences, Comparative Political Studies, 51, 5 : 621-658.

Markus Kornprobst, T V Paul, 2021. Globalization, deglobalization and the liberal international order, International Affairs, 97, 5 :1305–1316.

Varieties of Capitalism

Question: One or more than one model of capitalism?

Required reading

Hall, P. and D. Soskice 2001. An Introduction to Varieties of Capitalism, in P. Hall and D. Soskice, eds. Varieties of Capitalism. Oxford University Press : 1-68 (available on UNIBO Oxford online).

Further reading

Menz, G. 2017. Comparative Political Economy, Oxford, Oxford University Press. Chapter 5 (available on UNIBO Oxford online).

Comparative labour markets

Question: Do models of capitalism influence labour market adjustments in times of crisis?

Required reading

Baccini, L., Guidi, M., Poletti, A., & Yildirim, A. 2022. Trade Liberalization and Labor Market Institutions. International Organization, 76,1 : 70-104. (Note:only the non-technical section).

Lallement, M. 2011. Europe and the economic crisis: forms of labour market adjustment and varieties of capitalism. Work, employment and society, 25 :627-641.

Further reading

Menz, G. 2017. Comparative Political Economy, Oxford, Oxford University Press. Chapter 6 (available on UNIBO Oxford online).

Filippetti, A. and F. Guy. 2020.Labor market regulation, the diversity of knowledge and skill, and national innovation performance, Research Policy, 49: 1-14. Sections 1 and 2.

Bearce, D. and A. Hart. 2017. International Labor Mobility and the Variety of Democratic Political Institutions. International Organization, 71: 65-95.

Zartaloudis, S. and A. Kornelakis. 2017. Flexicurity between Europeanization and Varieties of Capitalism? A Comparative Analysis of Employment Protection Reforms in Portugal and Greece. Journal of Common Market Studies, 55 :1144-1161.

Topics for seminars

Beyond Varieties of Capitalism

Question: Can one identify the strengths and weaknesses of Variety of Capitalism?

Hancké, B., Rhodes, M. and M. Thatcher . 2009. Beyond Varieties of Capitalism: Conflict, Contradictions, and Complementarities in the European Economy, Oxford University Press, Introduction (available on UNIBO Oxford online).

Hay, C. 2020. Does capitalism (still) come in varieties?, Review of International Political Economy, 27, 2: 302-319.

Feldman, M. The Origins of Varieties of Capitalism: Lessons from Post-Socialist Transition in Estonia and Slovenia, in Hancké, B., Rhodes, M. and M. Thatcher . 2009. Beyond Varieties of Capitalism: Conflict, Contradictions, and Complementarities in the European Economy, Oxford University Press (available on UNIBO Oxford online).

Question: How does politics matter in varieties of economic liberalizations?

Thelen, K. 2012. Varieties of Capitalism: Trajectories of Liberalization and the New Politics of Social Solidarity [https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1146/annurev-polisci-070110-122959], Annual Review of Political Science 15, 1: 137-159.

Political economy responses to international economic crises: 1929-1973

Question: How did national political economy coalitions affect responses to the Great Depression?

Gourevitch, P. 1986. Politics in Hard Times. Ithaca, Cornell University Press, chapter 1 and chapters on 1929 international economics crisis.

Question: How did national political economy coalitions affect responses to the two oil crises of the 1970?

Gourevitch, P. 1986. Politics in Hard Times. Ithaca, Cornell University Press, chapter 1 and chapter on 1973 international economic crisis.

Political economy responses to international economic crises: 2007-2008

Question: Were political responses to the global financial crisis different from previous crises responses? Why?

Hassel, A., & Palier, B. (Eds.). (2021). Growth and Welfare in Advanced Capitalist Economies: How Have Growth Regimes Evolved?. Oxford University Press. Chapter 3

Pontusson J. and D. Raess. 2012. How (and Why) Is This Time Different? The Politics of Economic Crisis in Western Europe and the United States, Annual Review of Political Science.

Walter, S. 2016. Crisis Politics in Europe. Why Austerity is Easier to Implement in Some Countries than in Others. Comparative Political Studies 49, 7: 841–873.

van Hooren, F. Alexandra Kaasch, A. and Starke P. 2014 The shock routine: economic crisis and the nature of social policy responses, Journal of European Public Policy, 21,4:605-623.

Responses to the pandemic induced economic crisis: 2020-

Hancké, B., Van Overbeke, T., & Voss, D. (2022). Crisis and Complementarities: A Comparative Political Economy of Economic Policies after COVID-19. Perspectives on Politics, 20(2), 474-489. doi:10.1017/S1537592721001055

Teaching methods

The course is organized in lectures and seminars, as detailed in the following program. Lectures (24 hours) aim to introduce students to the core tenets of the discipline. Seminars aim to provide occasions for in-depth discussions of class materials and exercises. For the seminar section, students will be divided into groups according to their preferences and according to rules concerning the current pandemic emergency: one/two group(s) will do the seminar in classroom (18 hours) and one/two group(s) will do the seminar remotely on MS TEAMS (18 hours). Therefore, a total of 42 classroom hours are scheduled for each student. Students are required to carefully read the assigned material before the session and - in the case of seminars - active participation through presentations of existing scholarship and case studies will also be expected.

Please note: In consideration of the teaching methods adopted in the IT laboratory, attendance of this course requires the prior participation of all students in Modules 1 and 2 of safety training in the places of study, [https://elearning-sicurezza.unibo.it/] in e-learning mode.

Assessment methods

Course evaluation

Students are encouraged to actively participate during the class. They are required to prepare short group presentations and to hand in one question per week to stimulate discussions.

Evaluation for attending students

Participation in class will count for 10% of the grade.

Presentation will count for 25% of the grade

The final assessment is a written paper using the Luxembourg Income Study datasets and will count for 65% of the grade (3000 words in total including abstract, bibliography, tables and graphs. Each table counts 250 words; each graph counts 250 words. The deadline for the paper: 15 January 2023).

Evaluation for non-attending students

Oral exam on all required readings and Menz, G. 2017. Comparative Political Economy, Oxford, Oxford University Press.

Teaching tools

Slides, videos, inquiring learning and problem solving techniques, debate engagement.

Office hours

See the website of Rosa Mulè