Author Description

This book is the result of Asian–European collaborative research on the diversity of capitalisms and regional economic interdependence in Europe and Asia. In particular, the recent transformations of both regions are analyzed: the growing Chinese economy; institutional changes and de-industrialization in Japan; increasing international production linkages among China, Japan, Korea, and ASEAN; the enlargement of the European Union; the Euro crisis; and the diverging competitiveness between Southern Europe and Northern Europe. Under these circumstances, we witness the great transformation of capitalisms in both regions—Asia and Europe—from the point of view of the régulation theory, which focuses on changes in institutional coordinating mechanisms and the growth regime. This study integrates three levels of political–economic analysis: 1) The comparative institutional analysis of the varieties of capitalism in both Europe and Asia; 2) The macroeconomic analysis of industrial structural change and economic dynamics of the national economies in Europe and Asia; 3) The encompassing analysis of international production linkages and international financial instability which will determine the long-term patterns of regional integration in Europe and Asia. The regional integration process shows very different patterns, influenced by diverse economic, political, and historical factors in Europe and Asia, but Asian integration can learn much from the on-going European experience.