Unconstrained Capital? Multinational companies, structural power, and collective goods provision in dual VET
Journal
Socio-Economic Review
ISSN
1475-1461
Type
journal article
Date Issued
2020-10-02
Author(s)
Abstract
Collective goods provision, most prominent in coordinated market economies, depends on certain institutional conditions that constrain employer behavior and trigger cooperation. Increased capital mobility, characterized by new exit opportunities for business and an influx of multinational companies not anchored in their new home-countries’ institutional environment, loosens those ‘beneficial constraints’. I argue that these challenges do not lead to convergence between globalized locations as the structural power of business depends on the type of firms attracted by local institutional comparative advantages. Comparing collective skill formation in two heavily globalized cantons of Switzerland, I show that a region fundamentally relying on low-tax policies sees its hands increasingly tied in the face of globalization. It must accordingly reshape collective goods provision around policies favored by business. In contrast, a location with more diverse comparative advantages is able to implement more compelling policy elements that punish uncooperative firms.
Language
English
HSG Classification
contribution to scientific community
Refereed
Yes
Publisher
Oxford University Press
Number
Online first
Division(s)
Eprints ID
261132
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mwaa035.pdf
Size
264.67 KB
Format
Adobe PDF
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