| Abstract: | This article explores the role of the jurisprudential discourse and the federal labor court on the transformation of collective bargaining in Germany. The gap between rules and behavior contains a source of institutional change. Political actors have to construe the meaning of an institution which means that it can be exposed to incremental change. In this process, the importance of lawyers as institutional entrepreneurs is crucial as they offer interpretations of the meaning and the scope of institutions and thereby shape political action. |
