The goal of this course is to explore the structure and geography of the German political economy in the context of economic globalization by systematically comparing institutional conditions with those in other countries. This perspective enables us to identify different capitalist systems and characterize Germany as a more socially balanced economic governance model compared with market-liberal systems in the US, UK and Canada. Drawing on the varieties-of-capitalism and other approaches, the main themes in the course address the institutional conditions for development. In a comparative perspective, the course explores topics, such as the role of collective agents and collective bargaining, corporate governance and finance, inter-firm co-operation and regional networks, social security systems, and population structure and immigration. To better understand the current challenges to the German governance model, the institutional opportunities and limitations are investigated under which different regional economies develop in unequal ways.