Tripartite concertation and varieties of capitalism

The relatively recent literature on varieties of capitalism has developed alongside, and also overlapped with, the older debate on tripartite concertation as a form of regulation of the economy. Yet these two strands of research were by no means born with the same objectives and assumptions. This article examines different aspects of the relationship between them. The first three sections discuss the extent to which concerted regulation of the economy may be seen as the key feature of non-liberal capitalism - commonly termed 'Rhineland capitalism', 'Coordinated market economies', and so on. The next two sections raise questions as to its continued viability. The central question addressed is: under what conditions can the concerted regulation of the economy, largely successful in the past decade, but now increasingly questioned, still be a viable alternative to the dominant model of faissez-faire capitalism?