Still Seeking Coordination? Assessing German Employers’ Interests in the Digitalized Social Market Economy

Abstract Do German employers in metal and electrical (M+E) sector still want to support core institutions of a coordinated market economy, and are capable of doing so? Based on evidence collected in a series of expert interviews conducted in 2017 and 2018 with employers’ associations, we argue that social partnership, collective bargaining, and strategic coordination via organizations are still part of the preferred modus operandi of these employers. Moreover, we argue that new forms of associational membership that enable firm-based, yet often collective, solutions, which have stabilized rather than eroded the organizational capacity of employers’ associations. As such, we provide supportive evidence for several core premises associated with the Varieties of Capitalism approach. Yet we also identify trends toward more flexibilization, decentralization, and systemic volatility in this system, as many small and medium-sized enterprises, especially in East Germany, remain without any associational membership.