制度差异和资本主义的模式

尽管近年来许多人谈论趋同论的热情很高,但现代资本主义仍具有有限的多样性。近十多年来,在西方学术界有两个研究流派一直在强调国家间的制度差异,强调制度差异对于经济活动和社会结果的重要性:“资本主义类型”理论主张协调的市场经济的运作与自由市场经济不同;跨国福利研究则发现了不同的福利政体,它们在制度设计上有着重要差异。了解和研究这两个流派对于认识当代资本主义是有意义的。

Institutional Variations and Models of Capitalism

Despite claims to convergence, modern capitalism still comes in a limited variety. Over the last decade, two academic schools in the West have underlined the cross-national institutional variations and the importance of institutional variations for economic activities and social outcomes. The Varieties of Capitalism approach claims that coordinated market economies operate differently from free market economies, and cross-national welfare state research has detected different welfare regimes with significant variations in institutional designs. Studying the two approaches is of significance to understanding contemporary capitalism.