The Dutch sometimes think they are different. They like to talk about things being “typically Dutch.” Similarly, economic historians have suggested that the way in which the economy is managed is rooted in the particular past of the Netherlands – in its Golden Age, from which it inherited, for example, a strong focus on the outside world, or, as we will discuss, the “poldermodel.” In many ways, however, the Dutch are very similar to other Europeans – and should be placed between Germany and the United Kingdom, in more ways than mere terms of geography. Accordingly, the history of the economy during the twentieth century can be understood as just another example of the rapid growth and modernization that occurred in the whole of Europe.

If one looks more closely, there are some “typically Dutch” features as well. This does not primarily concern windmills or flower bulbs, but the way in which the economy is managed, the particular “business system” of the Netherlands. With this concept economists and sociologists have tried to develop the idea that business firms are rooted in the culture of their society and therefore function differently in different cultures. It has been argued that the way in which not only specific companies but also the economy as a whole is governed, reflects the underlying values of a society. The “business systems” of Japan, Italy, or the United States are different from those in Germany or the Netherlands. The “poldermodel” is perhaps the best known concept that describes some of the features of the business system of the Netherlands.