The political economy of innovation, democracy and prosperity

• Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies
• Department of Political and Social Sciences

In this seminar, organised by the Political Economy Working Group, David Soskice will focus on successful metro-city clusters, examining the polarisation between these areas and smaller regions, and discussing the correlation with political instability and dysfunctional national governments.

Comparative political economy has paid little attention to the major technological disruptions of the last two decades (the second Digital Revolution), with a few notable exceptions. In collaboration with Torben Iversen, David Soskice has focused on innovation-driven companies located largely in successful metro-city clusters, on the role of owners and financial institutions, the role of universities, unions, reputations and networks, and on political coalitions with metro-city governments.

David Soskice will shed light on the conditions for companies successfully meeting the ‘digital/sustainability challenge’. These processes and interactions have led to locational, educational and political polarisation between successful metro city clusters and other areas – smaller cities, towns, exurbs and rural areas (‘places that don’t matter’). This polarisation has been associated with populism, and in turn with political instability and dysfunctional national governments, especially in last decade. Explaining successful metro city clusters, they contrast effective metro-city government and stable political coalitions with dysfunctional national government.