What are the institutional prerequisites for the creation and maintenance of
centralized collective bargaining and social pacts? This article compares Greek
experience since 1990 with that in other countries, arguing that societies are
likely to diverge on how they respond to the issues of changing bargaining
structure and tripartite policy-making. While neo-institutionalist approaches,
and particularly their ‘varieties of capitalism’ variant,
can go a long way in interpreting these diverse responses, they have problems
accounting for institutional change. To accomplish this we need a more dynamic
understanding of how past institutional arrangements in combination with current
tensions over particular issues, and the costs and opportunities presented to
actors, give rise to distinctive responses.