What are the most important differences among national economies? Is globalization forcing nations to converge on an Anglo-American model? What explains national differences in social and economic policy? This work outlines an approach to these questions. It highlights the role of business in national economies.

`quoted as one of the six books to change the world' New Statesman `an important and carefully argued book.' Sir Geoffrey Owen, FT `This is an academic book in the sense that it draws on recent advances in economic and political theory - non-economists may find some chapters hard going - but it is also firmly based on an analysis of how companies really behave.' Sir Geoffrey Owen, FT `With this book Peter Hall and David Soskice are opening a new chapter in the analysis of contemporary capitalism. They have succeeded in bringing together in one compelling formulation historical - institutional and rationalist - individualist analytical perspectives. The empirical applications in Varieties of Capitalism illuminate in a profound way how both scholars and policy makers will benefit when they link macro- and micro-level analyses across the many different sectors that define contemporary capitalism in its many forms. Economists and political scientists, finally, are able to meet on common ground. This book will become a classic in the field.' Peter J. Katzenstein, Walter S. Carpenter, Jr. Professor of International Studies, Cornell University. `This invaluable contribution to the comparative capitalism literature vigorously argues against the notion of convergence so popular in the globalism debates. The authors expand our understanding of national "production systems" to see new connections and show that the differences aong them allow countries to pursue distinctly different strategies of international competition. A must read.' Peter Gourevitch, Professor, Graduate School of International Reltions and Pacific Studies, University of California, San Diego `This book has been well worth waiting for. It demonstrates the wealth of insights that could be achieved through Soskice's innovative research program that began to change the agenda of Comparative POlitical Economy more than a decade ago. The volume combines a definitive restatement of the varieties of capitalism approach with illuminative applications to the range of research areas covered by it with some fascinating theoretical extensions. Excellent!' Professor F.W. Scharpf, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies, Cologne

Elaborates a new framework for understanding differences among national economies Provides a new perspective on the problems of globalization Brings the business enterprise back into the centre of comparative political economy Sets new research agendas for the field of comparative politics in the coming decades

Peter A. Hall is Frank G. Thomson Professor of Government and Harvard College Professor at Harvard University where he is also the Director of the Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies. He is the author or editor of several books and many articles on European politics, policy-making, and comparative political economy. His work has received numerous awards including the Woodrow Wilson Award for the best book in political science published in 1986 and the Luebbert Award for the best article in comparative politics published in 1998. David Soskice is Research Professor of Political Science at Duke University and Adjunct Research Professor at the School for Social Sciences of the Australian National University. He is Emeritus Fellow in Economics at University College, Oxford, and on leave from the Wissenschaftszentrum für Sozialforschung in Berlin (WZB) where he has been Director of the Research Unit on Employment and Economic Change since 1990. He is the author or editor of several books and many articles on comparative political economy, macroeconomics, and labor economics.

Elaborates a new framework for understanding differences among national economies Provides a new perspective on the problems of globalization Brings the business enterprise back into the centre of comparative political economy Sets new research agendas for the field of comparative politics in the coming decades