ABSTRACT
The comparison of different economic systems has remained at the centre of economists’ interests in the last decades as the source of the different roads of economic developments and inequalities when comparing individual economies or even geo-political “blocs” of countries. Earlier, the “comparative political economy” dealt with the differences between Command and Market Economies emphasizing the contrasting role of the state on one side and the liberal labour market institutions on the other. Although the comparison between the PostSocialist economies can be a relevant topic itself, it is worth taking diversity within the national economies into consideration as well. That is, not only can a cross-country analysis be interpreted as a comparative research, but also, the comparison of sectors and different operating practices can be surveyed within a country. This approach is the so-called “Segmented Capitalism” theory first labelled by Martin (2008). According to this theory, firms are the main actors when it comes to shape the economic system in a country. This expression fits to the main thesis of the Varieties of Capitalism (VoC) literature, namely that firms and their needs should be at the centre of analyses of economic systems. It is justified by the fact that firms are the main actors and stakeholders of market economies and these institutions characterize and specify the structure of the system and the resultant economic performance of the country in the global perspective.
