Locked in or Moving Forward? Institutional Evolution in Slovakia’s Automotive Industry, 1989-2025

Abstract

Sometimes moving forward means to understand the evolutionary process and dynamics of change first. This thesis explores the historical evolution of the Slovak automotive industry over the course of 36 years. It also aims to understand whether the industry’s development is predominantely shaped by critical junctures or by gradual changes. Research question "Has the development in Slovakia’s automotive industry since the post-socialist transition in 1989 followed a path-dependent trajectory, or has it evolved through gradual, incremental transformation?" serves as a guiding principle to examine this. To answer the research question, I apply a theoretical framework consisting of historical institutionalism and two concepts of change – first presents path dependence alerted predominately by major disruption (Pierson) and second present incremental change (Streeck & Thelen). This paper is a longitudinal single in-depth case study that examines qualitative empirical material comprised of governmental, industrial and additional contextual documents that were published between 1989 – 2025. This study concludes that some critical junctures might not necessarily alter or substantially disrupt the trajectory of the industry and incremental change can be more apparent when shaping the direction of the path. Change mechanisms introduced by both concepts serve as a complementary toolbox to understand nature and variance of changes that can shape institutional setting of the automotive sector and its trajectory.