ABSTRACT
Globalisation changes the costs and benefits of economic policy options, stimulating convergence around a liberal paradigm. Although a trend towards liberalisation can be observed in OECD countries, divergence from this trend remains astonishingly strong. Germany provides an example of divergence in not changing its traditional economic model. Two hypotheses are proposed in explaining divergence from globalisation's pressure for convergence: First, domestic institutions that mediate between state and society (corporatism) influence national answers to globalisation. Second, socioeconomic norms (consensus and solidarity) make change dependent on a re-definition of norms. These hypotheses are tested with regard to Germany's economic policy since unification.
