ABSTRACT
Many of the institutional changes thought to produce a wage-push inflation seem to exist in a more tangible form in the hands of those asserting them than in identifiable historical processes. This chapter considers evidence bearing directly on differences in the rates of inflation between countries and evidence on the other macroeconomic outcomes that are relevant to theories of the inflationary process. It begins with an appraisal of the quantitative and cross-national studies of aggregate economic performance—studies mainly inspired by the analyses of neocorporatism. The extent to which the institutions of some countries warrant their assignment to a neocorporatist category varies over time. Countries also vary in the importance of international financial transactions in the national economy and, therefore, the weight of the preferences of private financial institutions in government policy decision. The extent to which the institutions of some countries warrant their assignment to a neocorporatist category varies over time.
