Theme I: Economy, Prosperity, and Social Justice

2003 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 849-871
Author(s):  
Leopold Specht ◽  
Ratna Kapur ◽  
Balakrishnan Rajagopal ◽  
Chantal Thomas ◽  
David M. Trubek
Keyword(s):  
World Bank ◽  
International Institutions ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
The United States ◽  
Global Scale ◽  
The World Bank ◽  
Institutional Frameworks ◽  
The World ◽  
Anglo American ◽  
The International Monetary Fund

In this presentation I shall describe (i) a process of expanding the institutional frameworks of economic and social development that apply on a global scale principles found in the Anglo-American world; (ii) the reinterpretation of these institutional frameworks by ascribing to them a narrow – to a certain extent ideological – meaning which does not reflect the variety of meanings carried by those institutions in the Anglo-American world; and (iii) the undermining of sovereign decision-making by states in order to regulate economies and social systems in a manner that does not pose limitations to the expansion of the institutional framework as described above. This hegemonic programme of ‘globalization’ is at the heart of policies promoted by the United States and such international institutions as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank.

Multilateralism with small and large numbers

1992 ◽  
Vol 46 (3) ◽  
pp. 681-708 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miles Kahler
Keyword(s):  
World Bank ◽  
International Conflict ◽  
The United States ◽  
International Governance ◽  
The World Bank ◽  
Large Numbers ◽  
The World ◽  
The Many ◽  
The International Monetary Fund ◽  
Organizing Principles

Multilateralism, international governance of the “many,” was defined by the United States after 1945 in terms of certain principles, particularly opposition to bilateral and discriminatory arrangements that were believed to enhance the leverage of the powerful over the weak and to increase international conflict. Postwar multilateralism also expressed an impulse to universality (John Ruggie's “generalized organizing principles”) that implied relatively low barriers to participation in these arrangements. A ticket of admission was always required, whether acceding to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) or joining the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank. Nevertheless, the price of that ticket was not set so high that less powerful or less wealthy states could not hope to participate.

scholarly journals Policy Watch: Debt Relief

2006 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 207-220 ◽  
Author(s):  
Serkan Arslanalp ◽  
Peter Blair Henry
Keyword(s):  
World Bank ◽  
International Monetary Fund ◽  
Low Income ◽  
The United States ◽  
Debt Relief ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
The World Bank ◽  
The World ◽  
Heads Of State ◽  
The International Monetary Fund

At the Gleneagles summit in July 2005, the heads of state from the G-8 countries—the United States, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United Kingdom—called on the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank and the African Development Bank to cancel 100 percent of their debt claims on the world's poorest countries. The world's richest countries have agreed in principle to forgive roughly $55 billion dollars owed by the world's poorest nations. This article considers the wisdom of the proposal for debt forgiveness, from the standpoint of stimulating economic growth in highly indebted countries. In the 1980s, debt relief under the “Brady Plan” helped to restore investment and growth in a number of middle-income developing countries. However, the debt relief plan for the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) launched by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund in 1996 has had little impact on either investment or growth in the recipient countries. We will explore the key differences between the countries targeted by these two debt relief schemes and argue that the Gleneagles proposal for debt relief is, at best, likely to have little effect at all. Debt relief is unlikely to help the world's poorest countries because, unlike the middle-income Brady countries, their main economic difficulty is not debt overhang, but an absence of functional economic institutions that provide the foundation for profitable investment and growth. We will show that debt relief may be more valuable for Brady-like middle-income countries than for low-income ones because of how it leverages the private sector.

scholarly journals Trends in the transformation of Bretton-Wood organizations in global space

2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 (8) ◽  
pp. 72-85
Author(s):  
Viktoriia KOLOSOVA ◽  
Keyword(s):  
World Bank ◽  
Financial Stability ◽  
Social Situation ◽  
The United States ◽  
Global Scale ◽  
Bretton Woods ◽  
The World Bank ◽  
The World ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Imf

The article highlights the historical aspects and preconditions for the creation of the International Monetary Fund (the IMF) and the World Bank, which since 1944 have been the most influential international financial organizations and have played the role of the world's largest creditors. The essence of the transformations of their activity caused by the phenomena of the new economic reality is revealed. The solution to the problems of financial stability on a global scale in the postwar period by the United States and the newly created the IMF was to peg national currencies to the US dollar in the Fund's arbitration. The events related to the crisis of the Bretton Woods system of single fixed exchange rates and the irreversible disruptions in the world circulation of oil and its derivatives in the 1970s were important reasons for changing the principles of the world monetary and financial system towards the introduction of free exchange. At the same time, due to the intensification of domestic trade and investment, there were abrupt outpacing transformations of the economies of the south-eastern part of the Asian continent. Following the irreversible events involving the collapse of the socialist camp, support for reform programs in transition economies has been added to the IMF's targets. The activities of the World Bank under the impact of these total changes were also significantly renewed. Further, the IMF and the World Bank began to work more closely, integrating anti-crisis approaches and measures, while remaining a universally recognized instrument of stabilization in the global dimension. The activities of the Bretton Woods organizations are aimed at assisting the governments of developing countries in implementing market economic policies to protect the rights of all forms of ownership, modernize institutional structures, achieve financial balance, and improve the social situation of all segments of the population. It is concluded that in order to ensure sustainable development, the strategic renewal of the IMF and the World Bank provides for the expansion of quotas to support structural reform programs, improve the allocation of credit and financial resources, support opportunities to meet the needs of socio-economic systems, develop human capital and efforts for solving macroeconomic problems, etc. The directions of impact of these international financial institutions on solving actual problems concerning climate change, displays of corruption, overcoming inequality, resistance to threats of destabilization, struggle against a pandemic of a coronavirus disease of COVID-19 are defined.

International institutions, globalization and the inequality among nations

2009 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 323-337 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amitava Krishna Dutt ◽  
Kajal Mukhopadhyay
Keyword(s):  
World Trade Organization ◽  
World Bank ◽  
Capital Flows ◽  
World Trade ◽  
International Institutions ◽  
World Government ◽  
Gunnar Myrdal ◽  
The World Bank ◽  
The World ◽  
The International Monetary Fund

In the 1950s, Gunnar Myrdal pointed out that while inequality between regions within many economically advanced countries was falling due to the policies of national government, inequality between countries was growing, given the absence of anything resembling a world government. Since then, international institutions such as the United Nations (UN), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank (WB) and the World Trade Organization (WTO) have grown in size and scope. This paper uses econometric techniques to argue that these institutions, by liberalizing and increasing international trade and capital flows, have not had the effect of reducing inequality across nations and may, in fact, have exacerbated it.

International institutions

2009 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 311-321
Author(s):  
Karl Socher
Keyword(s):  
World Bank ◽  
International Institutions ◽  
Austrian Economics ◽  
Market Failures ◽  
International Public Goods ◽  
The World Bank ◽  
Role Of The State ◽  
The World ◽  
The International Monetary Fund

Austrian Economics tries to minimize the role of the state. International institutions, like the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB), seen under this perspective, often try to fulfil functions of states which are not necessary, for instance, fixing exchange rates or redistribute income. They should concentrate on correcting market failures, like international public goods, when they cannot be supplied by the market, or internalize externalities. But even in these cases, state failures have to be avoided. Such state failures happened especially in countries transforming from socialist to market economies and in advising these states by international institutions.

The autonomy of international organizations? The analysis of major powers’ influence over the World Bank’s aid policies

2021 ◽  
pp. 223386592110248
Author(s):  
Yooneui Kim ◽  
Youngwan Kim
Keyword(s):  
World Bank ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
Development Assistance ◽  
The United States ◽  
Official Development Assistance ◽  
Global Politics ◽  
Major Powers ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
The World Bank ◽  
The World

Are international organizations autonomous actors in global politics? This paper investigates whether and how major powers influence the World Bank’s official development assistance policies. Despite the World Bank’s attempts to maintain independence from its member states, we argue that major powers are still influential. Testing this expectation with the data of official development assistance provisions between 1981 and 2017, we find that the World Bank provides a higher amount of official development assistance to the recipient countries that receive a higher amount of such assistance from the major powers such as the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Japan. In addition, the World Bank is prone to provide a higher amount of official development assistance to the recipients that have a similar preference to the major powers. This study sheds light on the relations between major powers and international organizations.

International Institutions and Political Liberalization: Evidence from the World Bank Loans Program

2017 ◽  
Vol 49 (4) ◽  
pp. 1357-1379 ◽  
Author(s):  
Allison Carnegie ◽  
Cyrus Samii
Keyword(s):  
World Bank ◽  
International Institutions ◽  
Bank Loans ◽  
Political Liberalization ◽  
Member States ◽  
Quantitative Evidence ◽  
Elite Group ◽  
The World Bank ◽  
The World ◽  
Level Of Economic Development

How do international institutions affect political liberalization in member states? Motivated by an examination of the World Bank loans program, this article shows that institutions can incentivize liberalization by offering opportunities for countries to become associated with advanced, wealthy members. In the World Bank, when a loan recipient reaches a specified level of economic development, it becomes eligible to graduate from borrower status to lender status. Using a regression discontinuity design, the study demonstrates that this incentive motivates states to improve their domestic behavior with respect to human rights and democracy. Combining qualitative and quantitative evidence, the results suggest that the desire to become a member of this elite group is responsible for motivating member states to reform due to the belief that such membership brings diffuse international and domestic benefits.

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