The aim of the project is to analyse, within a comparative institutionalist analytical framework, the trajectories of socio-economic development models. Comparative analyses of forms of capitalism have underlined the diversity in institutional configurations. Within the EU, it is assumed that four types of socio-economic models exist: market-oriented, continental, Nordic, and Southern, with the position of transitional CEEC under discussion. The project will reconstitute the historical trajectories of these socio-economic models, in order to understand how their institutional configuration mediates the synergies and trade-offs between the economic, social and environmental dimensions of development. By focusing on complementarities and conflicts as well as changes in socio-political compromises, by contesting the hypothesis of convergence towards a specific European model and by analysing the impacts of globalisation and structural reforms, the possible future for these models will be discussed. The project will combine three approaches Firstly, a quantitative analysis of the trajectories of socio-economic models. Using long-term data bases for industrialized countries, statistical and econometrical analyses will allow for a quantitative historical analysis of trajectories for the period 1975-2005. The analysis will be completed with analysis of CEEC and emerging countries for the period 1990-2010. Secondly, a comparative analysis of socio-political dynamics and institutional changes. Twelve European and four non-European countries will be examined in order to identify, from an historical perspective, the evolution of socio-political compromises and their influence on the dynamics of institutional changes. Thirdly, sectoral analyses of institutional configurations and industrial dynamics, which will combine statistical and socio-political approaches in order to analyse the long term dynamics of four industries within different socio-economic models.