The Hybrid Variety: Lessons in Nonmarket Coordination from the Business System in the Netherlands, 1950–2010

This article develops a historical perspective on the coordinated market economy of the Netherlands and explains why it opted for compartmentalized liberalization. Two related questions are addressed, studying the Netherlands as a case study of a Coordinated Market Economy (CME): to what extent can economic change be accommodated within one “type of capitalism”? And why do specific institutions change while others remain in place? Applying the criteria of “Varieties of Capitalism” I focus on the way the Dutch business system applied nonmarket coordination during the twentieth century. Drawing information from various subfields (business history, labor relations and welfare state studies), I review processes of change and postulate that coordination resulted in the adoption of market-oriented reform in clearly delineated areas. “Varieties of Capitalism” theory addresses the historical roots of institutional arrangements, but historical developments have been underexposed in the comparative capitalism-literature.