The volume analyzes the long-term trajectories of change in the capitalist models of the UK, Germany, Sweden, France, Italy, Hungary, Slovakia, and the United States. The case studies identify critical junctures and key periods of change in order to show how institutions are shaped by different sets of socio-political compromises and public policy. The case studies follow a common methodology, comparing change and linkages across six core institutional domains, thus facilitating a comparative understanding of the patterns and drivers of institutional change, as well as how liberalisation impacts countries in similar and dissimilar ways. The historical perspective of the cases highlights the transformative effects of relatively slow and incremental changes. These case studies also make an innovative contribution to examining the linkages between four levels of institutions that regulate the economy - the international, macro (national), meso, and micro. The volume reveals both a common trend toward more liberal forms of capitalism but also variations on this overarching trajectory. Markets themselves create their own dynamics, which have varied effects on firms and other economic actors in historically diverse institutional contexts.

1. The long-term trajectories of institutional change in European capitalism Gregory Jackson and Richard Deeg 2. Like a phoenix from the ashes? Reassessing the transformation of the Swedish political economy since the 1970s Gerhard Schnyder 3. The trajectory of institutional change in Germany, 1979-2009 Gregory Jackson and Arndt Sorge 4. Changing French capitalism: political and systemic crises in France Bruno Amable, Elvire Guillaud and Stefano Palombarini 5. From the Southern-European model to nowhere: the evolution of Italian capitalism, 1976-2011 Marco Rangone and Stefano Solari 6. The role of state in development of socio-economic models in Hungary and Slovakia: the case of industrial policy Anil Duman and Lucia Kureková 7. Strategic transformation and muddling through: industrial relations and industrial training in the UK Howard Gospel and Tony Edwards 8. The limits of Liberalization? American capitalism at the crossroads Richard Deeg