This chapter assesses institutional continuity and change in the varieties of capitalism in Austria and Switzerland. In the face of growing internationalisation, budgetary constraints and European integration, continuity and change have been determined by prevailing interest configurations and institutional limits in terms of public intervention and private governance. Hence, private employer dominance in Switzerland has fostered ra- pid change in areas where private regulation prevailed, such as corporate gover- nance, whereas institutional veto points have strongly limited change in areas where public intervention was necessary. By contrast, the larger scope of public intervention in Austria and its more majoritarian features have allowed more space for change in welfare reforms while the strong institutionalisation of corporatist institutions in labour market governance, for instance, has made it more resilient to change than Switzerland. In this respect, Austria and Switzerland provide good examples of how institutional change is dependent on the respective share of public regulation and private governance.
Coming Together But Staying Apart: Continuity and Change in the Austrian and Swiss Varieties of Capitalism
