The German Variety of Capitalism: Forces and Dynamics of Evolutionary Change

This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: [Bathelt, H., & Gertler, M. S. (2005). The German variety of capitalism: Forces and dynamics of evolutionary change. Economic Geography, 81(1), 1-9.], which has been published in final form at: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1944-8287.2005.tb00252.x/abstract. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving.This paper introduces a special section of Economic Geography that explores the dimensions of evolutionary change in the German variety of capitalism. It reviews the principal forces and dynamics that have recently shaped the evolution of the German model: those forces that are challenging the German model in its existing form, as well as the efforts of agents to respond to these current pressures. Following this, we discuss how the papers in this special section sheds new light on the nature of this continuing evolution