Article

 

Institutional and organisational dynamics in the east german transformation (p.139-171)

by

Agnès Labrousse, Centre Marc Bloch (Berlin) and CEMI-EHESS (Paris)

Keywords : East Germany, formal and informal rules, path dependency, industrial relations, labour market, work organisation

JEL classification : B52, J21, J22, J5, P31

Abstract

Focusing mainly on industrial relations and work organisation within firms, the aim of this paper is to shed some light on the complex interrelations between different institutional and organisational levels in the East German transformation. On the theoretical level, this paper will attempt to adapt the path dependency criteria, developed by Arthur, to the institutional sphere and to accurately characterise notions such as rules or organisations, often used in a loose manner. On the empirical level, using quantitative and qualitative material (interviews in particular), this paper scrutinises institutional and organisational change, in order to elucidate some distinctive features of the emerging East German capitalism. East Germany was, and still is, involved in some elementary process common to other countries experiencing transformation (notably a deep institutional and organisational change and path-dependency effects) but with strongly marked specific features related to its absorption by the West German state. But the transfer of West German formal institutions is part of the story, not the end of it. The “overnight” transplantation of formal institutions can be contrasted with the potentially time-expensive change of organisations and informal institutions. The interplay between formal and informal rules, has led, in East Germany to characteristic original hybrid combinations, that is, functioning processes which are neither reducible to the West German system nor to Eastern legacies.