Conceptualizing Cooperation: Coordination and Concertation as Two Logics of Collective Action

Despite recognizing that institutionalized cooperation is central to both business and politics in many advanced, industrialized economies, scholars remain divided over the origins, character, and future of “non-liberal” capitalism. This article seeks to clarify these debates by arguing that different processes of cooperation are governed by distinct logics of collective action and associated with different dynamics of collaboration. For example, coordination, or cooperation in production, is harder to create but more likely to facilitate companies’ upmarket movement. By contrast, concertation, or cooperation in policy making, is more amenable to state intervention but less durable. The analysis is based on detailed case studies of Germany and Ireland, which vary in their relative reliance on concertation and coordination. Selected references to shadow cases—displaying neither or both forms of cooperation—complement the analysis.