All Events

While national economies may rely on different growth models, they are all going through a similar “digital transformation.” Telecommunications and IT firms are at the forefront of these developments – responsible for building and servicing networks and data storage infrastructure; and developing and selling new AI- and cloud-based tools to businesses. This talk will look at how labor unions are influencing the strategies of telecom and IT firms in this growing industry. [more]

The Max Planck Online Workshop in Comparative Political Economy (MAX CPE) is an online seminar series in Comparative Political Economy, hosted by the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies and coordinated by Arianna Tassinari, Björn Bremer, and Lucio Baccaro. [more]

In all countries large private fortunes are highly concentrated in the hands of a tiny elite. While large fortunes may be created by individuals and administered by organizations, private wealth is ultimately owned and passed on in families. Historians have a long tradition of investigating the trajectory of wealthy and powerful families. It is only more recently that wealth research in sociology turns to the family as a unit of investigation. [more]

In her lecture series Karen Shire develops an economic sociological approach to the making and regu­lation of transnational labor markets in the global economy. Her three lectures seek to gain leverage on the contradictions between liberalizing labor mobility and regulating employment across territorial jurisdictions by drawing on research exploring the organization and coordination of cross-border labor markets, and the interface between legal and illegal market exchanges. [more]

From staggeringly expensive tech IPOs to big bets on the derivatives market, speculation has gripped the financial world. As sociologist Aris Komporozos-Athanasiou argues, however, speculative thinking has had the greater impact, shaping our larger social and political lives. [more]

In her lecture series Karen Shire develops an economic sociological approach to the making and regu­lation of transnational labor markets in the global economy. Her three lectures seek to gain leverage on the contradictions between liberalizing labor mobility and regulating employment across territorial jurisdictions by drawing on research exploring the organization and coordination of cross-border labor markets, and the interface between legal and illegal market exchanges. [more]

The Max Planck Online Workshop in Comparative Political Economy (MAX CPE) is an online seminar series in Comparative Political Economy, hosted by the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies and coordinated by Arianna Tassinari, Björn Bremer, and Lucio Baccaro. [more]

In her lecture series Karen Shire develops an economic sociological approach to the making and regu­lation of transnational labor markets in the global economy. Her three lectures seek to gain leverage on the contradictions between liberalizing labor mobility and regulating employment across territorial jurisdictions by drawing on research exploring the organization and coordination of cross-border labor markets, and the interface between legal and illegal market exchanges. [more]

We live in exciting times for students of public finances. While years of austerity after 2010 brought stagnation and pushed states’ crises responses onto monetary policies and other versions of "budget-neutral" interventions, even before COVID-19, discussions intensified about proactive fiscal policy, the need for transformative investments, and redistribution. Yet, it is uncertain whether states will be capable of using public finances effectively to address the enormous challenges arising from rising inequalities, ongoing global warming, and fragile democracies. [more]

The extent of social inequalities was well known before the pandemic arrived. Poverty and staggering wealth had already reappeared at levels not seen since the gilded age of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. [more]

The global financial crisis and the recent COVID-19 pandemic have again highlighted the sharpening of core-periphery divisions globally and within regional economic blocs. These developments have brought about a renewed interest among comparative political economists in the features of peripheral capitalism, and on the constraints and opportunities deriving from a position of peripherality in the global economy. [more]

The Second Doctoral Conference on the Social and Political Constitution of the Economy aims at building bridges and finding commonalities among young scholars whose research is addressing the complex linkages between economic and social action. It will give PhD students at all stages the opportunity to present their work and receive constructive and well-informed feedback. [more]