VARIETY OF CAPITALISMS? A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF TRANSFORMATIONS OF THE FRENCH AND ITALIAN BANK SYSTEM, 1980-2000

This paper questions the neo-institutionalist account of the persistent varieties of capitalism through a comparative study of the French and Italian savings banks sectors. According to neo-institutionalism, national capitalisms resist convergence pressures because of the interplay of economic and political institutions. Neo-institutionalists identify pathdependence as the main dynamic behind this resilience of national capitalisms. Although this theory has allowed to move beyond the simplistic, dichotomist views of globalization by introducing institutions and embeddedness into the equation, it presents many flaws as well. First, it fails to understand the mechanisms by which agents conform, resist or undermine the existing institutional frameworks, thus overestimating the homogeneity of systems; secondly, it overlooks the many ` paths' change may take. This paper highlights those weaknesses through the empirical analysis of the French and Italian savings banks over the past three decades, relying on quantitative (with longitudinal data on banks performance and balance sheet structure) as well as qualitative data (with 40 interviews with savings bank staff in both countries). Findings show, indeed, that the two cases under study are far from being homogenous and coherent. Moreover, this internal incongruence seems to last over time. At the same time, however, there is some degree of internal convergence towards similar business practice and organization.