Institutional complementarities and institutional dynamics: exploring varieties in European football capitalism

The article takes on the recent criticism about excessive determinism in institutionalist research in comparative political economy. It is argued that institutionalist reasoning holds too strong assumptions about the existence of self-reinforcing features of institutional configurations. In particular, such features are unlikely to be found in institutional configurations in domains shaped by competing logics. For such sectors, a 'more political' theory of institutional dynamics referring to the coalitional base of institutional configurations and stabilising efforts by political elites seems more appropriate. The paper provides empirical support for these claims by a comparison of the dynamics of the British and German football industries.