Political Economy

Political economy at the MPIfG views the economy as a sociopolitical system, with states, political parties, classes, and firms as collective actors—rather than the other way around, treating politics and society as an economy. In my work, the state and state policy play a particularly significant role, especially in the historical configuration of “democratic capitalism” and its transformation. My earlier work consists of contributions to (cross-national) comparative political economy, for example Germany and Japan, which examines national differences and their future from a divergence versus convergence perspective (“varieties of capitalism”). Today, cross-country commonalities are increasingly coming to the fore, where they are viewed from a diachronic perspective. Also, interstate international relations are moving into focus, partly due to the new political and economic role of wars.