Conference on Political Capitalism

2nd International Conference on Political Capitalism

Budapest, 13-14 May 2027

The first international conference on political capitalism was held at Corvinus University on May 15–16, 2025. We are now organizing the second edition, to be held two years later.

Political capitalism is an emerging and transversal field of research that has been explored both theoretically and empirically by different schools of economic thought, ranging from Marxism to Public Choice. It challenges established economic traditions by questioning how they have historically conceptualized the relationship between the political and economic allocation of resources. For all schools of economic thought, therefore, the challenge is whether to remain within their established orthodoxies or to develop revisionist interpretations.

Political capitalism is also central to the genealogy of capitalism across different countries and manifests itself in diverse types and forms. A research program on political capitalism therefore intersects with several major subfields of economics, including comparative economics, institutional economics, and economic history.

Advanced capitalist economies, regional unions such as the European Union, post-socialist transition economies, emerging capitalist systems, and developing countries are all exposed to different manifestations of political capitalism. Moreover, political capitalism needs to be analyzed at the micro-, meso-, and macro-levels. The transformation of financial and digital enterprises, the evolving role of the state, and developments across a range of economic sectors and industries—including the knowledge-based economy, the military-industrial sector, finance, and the spatial economy—are all relevant to understanding the dynamics and consequences of political capitalism.

While the Handbook of Political Capitalism (CUP, 2027) provides a solid foundation for the study of political capitalism, many unexplored avenues remain and call for further systematic investigation. We identify some of these directions below.

One of the most important avenues for future research concerns the modelling of Political Capitalism in terms of game theory and the measurability of political capitalism. There is a need for a comparative index or multidimensional measurement framework capable of separately capturing the centralization of political power, the political embeddedness of economic elites, the political dependence of property, the relative importance of market and destructive coordination, and the political sensitivity of economic actors.

A second research direction concerns the collusion between the state and the private sector in the appropriation of the commons, whether natural or digital (man-made). Political capitalism challenges the classical dichotomy between the market and the state by showing that they may not only coexist but also collaborate in the appropriation and enclosure of the commons. From the perspective of political capitalism, therefore, treating the commons primarily as a response to market failures raises important conceptual and theoretical questions. It calls for a reassessment of the conventional opposition between market and state, and of the institutional conditions under which their interaction may result in the appropriation of common resources.

A third research direction concerns the sectoral diffusion of political capitalism. It matters whether political capitalism first emerges in the media, banking, energy, infrastructure, digital platforms, or the defense industry. Certain sectors – particularly finance, the media, and digital infrastructure –may act as powerful drivers of its diffusion across the wider economy.

A fourth research direction concerns the power relations between political and economic elites. A particularly important question is how economic capital can be converted into political power and, conversely, how political power can be transformed into patrimonial property. Understanding these reciprocal processes is essential for explaining the institutional dynamics through which political and economic power become mutually reinforcing.

A fifth research direction concerns technological change. Artificial intelligence, digital platforms, data assets, biotechnology, and nanotechnology may generate new forms of patrimonial property and new mechanisms of destructive coordination by transforming intangible commons into politically and legally appropriable assets. The political capitalism of the future may therefore be linked less to classical industries and increasingly to data, communications infrastructure, algorithmic regulation, and technological standards.

A sixth direction concerns economic warfare and sanctions, which are closely connected to the dynamics of political capitalism. Changes in U.S. trade policy since 2010, China’s rise and strategic trade policies, and the European Union’s regional and global strategies involving sanctions all point to a broader shift from an era of deepening globalization toward greater regional rivalry and an increasingly close relationship between foreign trade and foreign policy. These developments raise important questions about the role of economic warfare, sanctions, and geopolitical competition in shaping contemporary forms of political capitalism.

At the theoretical level, there is also a need to clarify the boundaries between political capitalism and related but distinct concepts, such as state capitalism, market socialism, techno feudalism, etc. In particular, it is important to determine in what sense political capitalism can be understood as a form of cronyism and, conversely, whether it should be conceptualized as a distinct – and potentially new – economic system.

Finally, research should pay greater attention to the reversibility of political capitalism. Political capitalism need not be an end state. An important question is under what conditions private property and market coordination can be re-established or strengthened in sectors or economies where patrimonial property and destructive coordination have previously become entrenched. This raises the broader issue of whether, and through what institutional mechanisms, an economy can move away from political capitalism once it has become deeply institutionalized.

Political capitalism is not a marginal phenomenon but a recurring and potentially increasingly consequential institutional form in the history of capitalism. Its essence lies not simply in the intertwining of the state and the market, but in the ways in which this intertwining can transform the nature of property and the mechanisms of economic coordination. Research on political capitalism is therefore indispensable not only for understanding past and present economic systems, but also for analyzing the possible trajectories of capitalism in the future.

The Second International Conference on Political Capitalism will pursue two major objectives:

1. To organize two round tables addressing the theoretical and empirical dimensions of the Handbook of Political Capitalism, which provides a comprehensive overview of the current state of research in the field.
2. To invite papers addressing unexplored or insufficiently developed topics, including those outlined above, with the aim of extending and deepening our understanding of political capitalism.

We welcome papers addressing any of the issues raised above, as well as related questions that contribute to the development of political capitalism as a field of research. A selection of the papers presented at the conference will be considered for publication in an edited volume by Palgrave Macmillan.

Some of the keynote speakers who have confirmed their participation include:

Randall Holcombe

Florida State University (on-line)

Peter Leeson

George Mason University

Dylan Riley

University of California Berkeley

Susan Rose-Ackerman

Yale University

Miklos Rosta

Corvinus University

Mehrdad Vahabi

University of Sorbonne Paris Nord (USPN) and Leda Dauphine University

Richard Wagner

George Mason University

Chenggang Xu

Stanford University

Venue: Corvinus University of Budapest (www.uni-corvinus.hu)

Address: Hungary, 1093 Budapest, Fővám tér 8.

Corvinus University of Budapest is Hungary’s leading institution in the fields of economics and social sciences. Currently, around 10,000 students are enrolled at Corvinus, including 2,500 international students. The university maintains close partnerships with over 200 universities worldwide. Corvinus consistently ranks highly in international higher education rankings. It has a Triple Crown status. This status is awarded to institutions that simultaneously hold AACSB, AMBA and EQUIS accreditation.  In the 2019 Eduniversal Ranking, its Master’s in Business and Management program was ranked number one in the region, and since 2005, its Masters in Management and Leadership has been consistently ranked among the top 100 business schools globally by the Financial Times. Corvinus University of Budapest is also the only institution in Hungary in the field of economic sciences to hold two international institutional accreditations.

We will organize the conference in a hybrid format. Participants who wish to join online will have the option to give a presentation or remotely listen to the conference presentations.

PhD session

During the conference, we will organize a special session for PhD students conducting research on the topic of political capitalism. The papers they submit will be reviewed by the organizers with the involvement of renowned experts in the field, who will provide suggestions for revisions. The editors of the Handbook of Political Capitalism will offer the best papers the opportunity to be published in the handbook.

Submission Requirements and Procedures:

Deadline:

The submission deadline is 30 November 2026; late submissions will not be considered. Acceptance or rejection notices will be issued by mid-December.

Submissions:

Please submit your individual abstract by email to conference.cpc@uni-corvinus.hu.

A proposal for presentation of a paper or for presentation in a panel must include the following:

• Names & full contact details of Corresponding Author.
• Name & full contact details of Presenting Author.
• Listing of all authors of the paper, including affiliation and email addresses.
• Title of the paper.
• Abstract (max. 300 words).
• 2 JEL codes.
• 3 keywords.

You can propose a panel as well. Each panel should have 3 or 4 contributors. If you are proposing a panel, please ensure that the required information about each individual contributor on the panel is submitted, and that the contributor includes with the submission the title of the panel and the panel organizer’s name. A proposed panel with fewer than 3 papers / contributors can see their proposed panel complemented with additional contributions.

Submission of final papers: Please submit your paper not later than April 15, 2027, by email to conference.cpc@uni-corvinus.hu. Only submitted full papers can be presented.

Requirements for submitted papers:

• Text of your paper cannot exceed 10,000 words,
• Reference style: APA

Publication

Full papers submitted and presented at the conference are eligible for consideration for publication in a Collected Volume by Palgrave Macmillan. Acceptance notice will be issued till 31^st of May 2027.

Accepted paper can be revised and resubmitted till 1. September 2027.

Conference fee

The conference fee is 250 euro (or 95.000 HUF) (both for in-person or on-line participants). Participants are responsible for covering their own travel, accommodation, and other expenses.

Information for payment:

We look forward to your submissions!

Organizers:

• Corvinus University of Budapest, Corvinus Institute of Advanced Studies, and Institute of Economics
• University of Dauphine PSL, UMR LEDa CNRS-IRD

with the assistance of

• The Hungarian Society for New Institutional Economists
• French Institute in Hungary

          Miklós Rosta                                                          Prof. Mehrdad Vahabi

Corvinus University of Budapest             LEDa CNRS-IRD, Université Dauphine and USPN

 miklos.rosta@uni-corvinus.hu                               mehrdadvahabi@orange.fr