Governance of the American Economy

by Edited by John L. Campbell , J. Rogers Hollingsworth , Leon N. Lindberg

• ISBN13: 9780521408271
• ISBN10: 052140827X
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1991-05-31
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

In this book, nine scholars representing various perspectives examine institutions that govern economic activity in the United States and the dramatic changes they have undergone since the late nineteenth century. They investigate how and why these changes occurred and continue to occur as markets become more volatile, technology changes and international competition becomes more intense. They also address general questions about the governance of capitalist economies by considering several governance mechanisms such as markets, bureaucratic hierarchies, associations and informal networks and by exploring how such mechanisms emerge to coordinate economic activity and affect economic performance. The first part of the book describes the important characteristics of these organisational forms and provides an overview of institutional development in the US economy. The second part includes case studies of the institutional development of eight economic sectors. Finally, based on data from these case studies, the third part of the book tests competing theories of institutional change in capitalism, develops a new evolutionary model of the change process, and offers an original analysis of how the state influences this process.

Table of Contents

Part I. Conceptual And Historical Foundations: 1. Economic governance and the analysis of structural change in the American economy Leon Lindberg

2. The logic of coordinating American manufacturing sectors J. Rogers Hollingsworth

Part II. Empirical Studies Of Governance Of The American Tranformations In The US: 3. Transformations in the governance of the American telecommunications industry Kenneth Bickers

4. Contradictions of governance in the nuclear energy sector John Campbell

5. The statist evolution of rail governance in the US, 1830-1986 Robert Kennedy

6. Governance of the steel industry Christoph Scherrer

7. Governance of the automobile industry Christoph Scherrer

8. The dairy industry: form yeomanry to the institutionalization of multilateral governance Brigitte Young

9. Economic governance and the American meatpacking industry John Portz

10. The invisible hand in healthcare: the rise of financial markets in the US hospital industry Patricia Arnold

Part III. Theoretical Evaluation Of The Empirical Cases: 11. The evolution of governance regimes John Campbell and Leon Lindberg

12. The state and the organization of economic activity Leon Lindberg and John Campbell.