Constructing Capitalisms

The balance of economic power in Europe is shifting eastwards. Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Romania have all seen increases in their contributions to international trade and in the rate of GDP growth, whilst other countries have seen declines, and firms in these Central and Eastern European economies are becoming increasingly influential participants in international production systems, centred largely on Germany. This book presents an up-to-date, theoretically informed analysis of how these four countries have developed distinctive business systems since the political revolutions that transformed this region in 1989, combining the structures of liberal market capitalism established in the 1990s with practices established earlier. Influenced by the socialist inheritance of communism and increasingly diverse sources of capital, different forms of capitalism developed, less responsive to shareholder interests, and more responsive to managerial and national strategic interests This book concentrates on changing patterns of ownership and control, means of capital accumulation, the relations among multinationals, regional enterprises, and governments, and the role of the state. Whilst recognizing the role of multinationals in generating export-led growth, the book emphasizes the central role of government at national and international level. The forms of capitalism under construction differ from expectations common in the 1990s, combining elements from both US/UK and continental European models of capitalism.

Roderick Martin recently retired as Research Fellow at the Centre for Policy Studies at the Central European University (CEU) in Budapest, Hungary, after serving as Professor of Management at the CEU Business School. Previously, at the University of Oxford, he was Official Fellow in Politics and Sociology at Trinity College, and in Information Management at Templeton College. He was Professor of Industrial Sociology at Imperial College, London, Professor and Director of the University of Glasgow Business School, and Professor and Director of the School of Management, University of Southampton. He has published over ten books in management, organizational behaviour, industrial sociology, and industrial relations, and over 60 research papers in international journals. He was instrumental in developing the UK Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) East-West Research Programme 1988-95.