This paper analyzes how stories shaped treasurers' expectations in municipal swap activities and contributes to the sociological debate on the mechanisms of expectation formation. Employing a deductive variant of process tracing, it synthesizes the literature on expectations in economic decision...

Despite changes in production networks, welfare state institutions or global finance, Germany's growth model still rests on its unique three-pillar banking system with its strong position of public and cooperative banks. This chapter takes a close look at German savings banks and reassesses the...

Unequal representation can result from politicians' biased perception of public opinion. Existing research has focused on the numerical accuracy with which politicians estimate preferences distributions in surveys. This method ignores politicians' broader assumptions about public preferences;...

Zwischen 1972 und 2002 sind in der deutschen Sozialpolitik die Verflechtungen der Politiker mit dem Bereich der gesellschaftlichen Interessenträger zurückgegangen. Anhand einer Analyse der Karrieren der Mitglieder des Bundestagsausschusses für Arbeit und Sozialordnung zeigt das Papier, dass...