The Future of Work in Diverse Economic Systems
The Varieties of Capitalism Perspective

This Element presents differences in Institutional contexts that impact the strategies of firms, the future of work and potential reforms.

Daniel Friel (Author)

9781009234603, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 15 February 2024

84 pages
22.8 x 15.1 x 0.5 cm, 0.14 kg

This Element reviews the varieties of capitalism approach (VoC) first developed by Hall and Soskice and subsequent extensions to emerging markets. The author suggests that by reinvigorating existing ideal types and creating new ones through an analysis of its five variables in a variety of countries VoC can be used to evaluate the viability of economic reforms across a wide range of countries. He argues that governments should base changes on lessons from other countries belonging to their ideal type. This Element illustrates the utility of VoC in understanding how reforms will differ across countries by examining how the future of work is likely to differ across nations depending on the degree to which the five institutions explored in this approach promote the standardization of tasks. It analyzes how these institutions shape degrees of standardization in the United States, Germany, and Brazil, offering suggestions for reforms in each of them.

1. Introduction
2. Institutional theory and the varieties of capitalism approach
3. The theory underlying voc and its application across the world
4. Criticisms of VoC and competing theories
5. The future of work
6. Different paths, different reforms
7. The path ahead for work using VoC
Bibliography.

Subject Areas: Corporate governance [KJR]