The Dynamics of German Industry

Germany's Path toward the New Economy and the American Challenge

Werner Abelshauser

• Publisher: Berghahn Books
• Year: 2005
• Edition: 1
• eBook ISBN:
  9781782387992
• Topic: Economics
• Subtopic: Economic History
• Index: Economics

Over the past decade, the "German Model" of industrial organization has been the subject of vigorous debate among social scientists and historians, especially in comparison to the American one. Is a "Rhenish capitalism" still viable at the beginning of the 21st century and does it offer a road to the New Economy different from the one, in which the standards are set by the U.S.? The author, one of Germany's leading economic historians, analyzes the special features of the German path to the New Economy as it faces the American challenge. He paints a fascinating picture of Germany Inc. and looks at the durability of some of its structures and the mentalities that undergird it. He sees a "culture clash" and argues against an underestimation of the dynamics of the German industrial system. A provocative book for all interested in comparative economics and those who have been inclined to dismiss the German Model as outmoded and weak.

Table of contents

• The Dynamics of German Industry
• Series Page
• Table of Contents
• List of Figures and Tables
• Introduction
• I. A Living Past
• 1. Beyond “The End of History”
• 2. The Splendor and Misery of Rhine Capitalism
• II. The German Empire—Hothouse of Postindustrial Institutions
• 1. From Liberalism to the Coordinated Production Regime
• 2. Patterns of Socialization Compared: The Economies of Germany and Great Britain
• 3. Interest Intermediation between Societal and State Corporatism
• III. The German Production Regime
• 1. The Production Regime of the Coordinated Market Economy
• 2. The American Challenge
• 3. Codetermination: The German Response to the Agency Problem
• 4. Social Market Economy: Production-Related Design of the Organization and Rules of the Economy
• IV. The German Road to the Twenty-first Century
• 1. Many Roads Lead to Rome
• 2. Anachronisms of the “Economic Miracle”
• 3. Strengths and Weaknesses of the German Production Regime
• Postscript
• Select Bibliography
• Subject Index