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Copyright of Direito e Práxis is the property of Editora da Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (EdUERJ) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Akdeniz Üniversitesi Hukuk Fakültesi Dergisi is the property of Akdeniz Universitesi Hukuk Fakultesi Dergisi and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Institutional proliferation in the global financial order raises concerns about a failure of coordination between global and regional organizations and the resulting confusion and conflict. One area of concern is macroeconomic surveillance, which is crucial for the detection of financial crises as a task subject to institutional overlaps. The existing literature does not provide systematic evidence on the extent and determinants of such coordination. To fill this lacuna, we compare the International Monetary Fund and the ASEAN Plus Three Macroeconomic Research Office, a surveillance agency in East Asia, using their country reports as outcomes of their surveillance of East Asian countries. We conduct dictionary-based text analyses to assess the usage patterns of key terms concerning particular economic ideas. The results demonstrate substantial similarities between the country reports as well as some residual differences. These findings suggest that they engage in informal coordination based on focal-point effects through the use of general and regional economic ideas for multifaceted surveillance. They further suggest that informality permits them to exercise discretion in deciding policy categories for aligned and autonomous actions, thereby providing an efficient solution to an autonomy-coordination dilemma. Through these discussions, our study suggests important implications for researchers and member governments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of international financial institutions is recognized in the modern world and even today the global world depends on the finances of financial organizations, because they play a major role in the accumulation, availability and distribution of finance, and some international financial organizations help publicly And has become an essential aid component at the modern stage, especially during the Kovid-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine conflict. International financial organizations are often cited as the world's most powerful agents of economic reform (Halliday and Carruthers, 2007:1135-1202). The role of international financial organizations is also special for Georgia, it can be said for developing countries in general, of course developed countries are not excluded, but access to finance and technical assistance is often needed by poor, transition or developing economies. The role of international financial organizations increased especially after the Second World War, in fact, in 1944, and the Bretton Woods Conference is considered the birthplace of international financial organizations, as there were no such financial organizations before, however, the formation of such organizations Financial condition. We will not discuss the origins of organizations in this topic, but it should be noted that the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, established under the Bretton Woods Conference, are still major players in the process of globalization and economic rapprochement with various international or regional financial organizations. At the same time, the International Monetary Fund is constantly introducing new standards in the face of modern challenges and adapting in the face of crises and challenges, assisting in implementation and conducting monetary policy, of course, taking into account the specifics of the country. It should also be noted that the opinion of scientists and experts often does not coincide with the policies of international financial organizations, even the International Monetary Fund in some cases, because local factors are ignored, which will be discussed in the main text, according to some examples. As for the World Bank Group, it mainly accredits countries with various types of loans and often plays an important role in stimulating the economy of a particular country - by financing infrastructure, energy and investment projects. It should be noted that intercity and urban infrastructure in Georgia is mainly financed by international financial organizations, including the construction of highways, municipal infrastructure, drainage systems, sidewalks and municipal transport development (For example, KFW-funded projects are important for the city of Batumi). The Asian Development Bank mainly finances the construction of the Central Highway, etc. Of course, such list is much broader and a matter of separate research, but we understand that it would be difficult for the state to finance such projects only with its own funds, and the already protracted projects would be further extended. Although international financial institutions play an important role in stimulating the economy, criticism often comes from the IMF's monopolistic and linear monetary policy, for example, the crisis of Asia in the 1990s and South Korea, when the IMF imposed its rule on South Korea. The policy developed by the experts, which should have been mainly focused on fighting inflation, which in fact deepened the crisis and led South Korea to default, which affected the entire financial market and particularly harmed private farms - small and medium-sized enterprises. The role of international financial organizations is special for Georgia as well, because the IMF and other international financial organizations play an important role in stimulating the Georgian economy, as most of the loans are directed to infrastructure and budget support loans. The volume of GDP and the level of employment of the population, however, the results of the funded projects will be more effective for the state and the population in the future. Debt management and services remain a challenge when financing international organizations, as the existence of public debt has historically been problematic, and the IMF has repeatedly called on states to maintain adequate levels of debt. However, it should be noted that the IMF at the present stage pursues a policy of relatively open governance and takes into account the characteristics of states in their monetary policy, because in the light of the crises of recent years, the Fund was not open to such governance. t should be said about the practice of Georgia, Georgia does not have a bad practice in terms of debt management, however, the debt volume as of 2021 is within 52% of GDP At the same time, it remains a challenge for Georgia to effectively implement projects financed by international financial organizations on time, because it is difficult to talk about the effectiveness of projects delayed over time. At the same time, it is important for Georgia to receive more loans from such organizations to finance more infrastructure and necessary economic projects.

Copyright of Revista Direito GV is the property of Fundacao Getulio Vargas and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This article reviews Bretton Woods Institutions' approach to public services, including during the recent COVID-19 crisis. Drawing on the specific case of IMF and World Bank's response to the multiple crisis triggered by the pandemic, it shows that there is a discourse-practice disjuncture in the institutions approach to public services as they continue to favour austerity and market-oriented solutions for the delivery of public services. The article therefore seeks to demystify the Bretton Woods institutions rhetoric and demand the adoption of a different way of understanding public services, and social policy more broadly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The International Comparison Program (ICP) is a unique example of enduring statistical cooperation and collaboration across national, regional, and global agencies. For over fifty years, the Program has delivered a vital public good: purchasing power parities (PPPs) and price level indexes (PLIs) for economies across the globe. PPPs enable a wealth of metrics on economic output, material well-being, and consumption, as well as a host of PPP-based indicators across the socioeconomic spectrum, many of which are used for monitoring progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals. Fundamental to these data and metrics is cross-country comparability, and the ICP's multi-agency partnership ensures that this is achieved through agreement on common statistical standards and methods in price data collection, in national accounts expenditure data compilation, in quality assurance, and in the calculation and dissemination of results. Working within a comprehensive governance structure overseen by the United Nations Statistical Commission, the ICP Global Office at the World Bank, and five regional agencies, together with Statistical Office of the European Union (Eurostat) and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), collaborate with over 170 national agencies to ensure that the work carried out across all economies adheres to these established benchmarks and processes, resulting in both bespoke ICP price collections that reflect both nationally relevant and globally comparable goods and services, and expenditure data that follow international standards. This paper presents an overview of this unique global partnership and highlights how different challenges and processes are addressed by stakeholders working with shared knowledge towards a common goal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A state should be deemed to be enjoying fiscal sovereignty where it is effectively empowered, without pressure or coercion, to make all policy decisions required to run the state machinery and satisfy the fundamental needs of its people (at the very least), both individual and collective. A state's effective policy and decision-making power is effectively curtailed where: (1) it has been substituted in these functions by a third state or an organ of that state; (2) it is prevented from taking a particular action, such as unilateral default; (3) it is forced to violate fundamental domestic laws, including its constitution or the result of a referendum; or (4) external pressure is exerted against its government and institutions, with the aim of creating volatility and uncertainty concerning its finances so it succumbs to such pressure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the origins of the IMF’s Debt Sustainability Analysis (DSA), a template to facilitate the measurement of a country’s debt sustainability that was introduced in 2002 and further developed in 2003. The template provides a pre-set format for governing the way debt sustainability analyses will be conducted by IMF staff economists. This paper examines how economic knowledge is embedded in the policy template and shows how expertise is shaped to resolve the IMF’s legitimation problems. This paper draws out the role of the public as an indispensable aspect of this process. Previous practice was publicly derided for being unsound and the introduction of the template attempted to make practices comparable across countries. This paper shows that the actual theoretical underpinnings of debt sustainability analysis were less important than how the “public” perceived them. Within the Fund, this “public” was perceived through reference to “the market,” governments as well as an undefined external scrutineer. The paper uses archival material from the Executive Board to show that a significant source of authority that the IMF used to enhance its legitimacy in the public domain arises from the perception of soundness in policy design, in turn relying on a perception of underlying theoretical rigour.

A substantial body of literature has been produced about the IMF's drift away from neoliberal orthodoxy in the aftermath of the 2007/08 global financial crisis. This article assesses the degree to which the IMF's post-crisis change in discourse toward adding more emphasis on social protection was put into action in Egypt's 2016 economic reform program. Beyond a noticeable discursive change, our research found that there was very little—if any—practical change. First, we demonstrate how the social component of the program was much smaller than the neoliberal or 'business-as-usual' component, not only as a share of program measures but also in terms of their magnitude. Second, we found that even this small component had a very similar equivalent in the last major program between the IMF and Egypt in 1991, thus rendering it less novel, and therefore casting doubt on the IMF's claims of change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this article is to review the history of the Bretton Wood Institutions, particularly over the last fifty years, in order to evaluate their performance, their capacity for readjustment and the effectiveness of their policies. The periodization proposed for the analysis responds to the major crises that these institutions have had to face and which, conveniently, have been grouped into three stages: the collapse of Bretton Woods in the 1970s and the debt crisis of the 1980s; the crisis of the 1990s and first half of the 2000s, characterized by the recurrence of crises in emerging markets; and the subprime crisis up to the present day. The idea is to identify commonalities and differences in the response capacity of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank to these crisis episodes and to synthesize lessons learned. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Does the International Monetary Fund (IMF) increase inequality? To answer this question, this article introduces a new empirical strategy for determining the effects of IMF programs that exploits the heterogeneous effect of IMF liquidity on loan allocation based on a difference-in-differences logic. The results show that IMF programs increase income inequality. An analysis of decile-specific income data shows that this effect is driven by absolute income losses for the poor and not by income gains for the rich. The effect persists for up to 5 years, and is stronger for IMF programs in democracies, and when policy conditions, particularly those that demand social-spending cuts and labor-market reforms, are more extensive. These results suggest that IMF programs can constrain government responsiveness to domestic distributional preferences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The first introductory manual of the IMF framework for Sovereign Debt Restructurings (SDRs) is introduced in this article. SDR processes, in which billions of dollars are negotiated, constitute key elements for the healthy recovery of an over-indebted economy. However, there are no academic works that analyze in depth the way in which the Fund organizes them. Based on official documents, this paper aims to bridge this gap by explaining how the components that shape the IMF SDR framework are articulated. To this end, the article analyzes: 1) the framework substantial and procedural rules in order to show it as an abstract normative structure as well as an action procedure applicable to specific cases; 2) the framework evolution, synthetically presenting the discussions that gave rise to its main components and justified its principal changes; 3) the framework latest updates, which modified sensitive areas of the Fund’s surveillance and financing functions. This analytical perspective closes a logical circle that shows the IMF SDR framework in a historical and integral manner and also gives an idealistic insider view to what the Fund is and how it operates.

This paper analyses Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) investment in Ireland and Iceland from other European countries during two periods, i.e., the pre-financial crisis period of 2000-2007 and the financial crisis period of 2008-2010. The aim of this research is to determine what made the countries interesting to foreign investors in both good and bad times; and, secondly, to examine whether European Union membership (and the Euro) made a difference in this respect. The results were obtained by using data from the OECD, theWorld bank, and other sources. The model constructed for the study applies the inverse hyperbolic sine transformation of the gravity model, which is a novel approach. The results demonstrate that before the financial crisis of 2008, European Union (EU) membership did not help Ireland attract more FDI from other EU countries. However, once it had been hit by the crisis, Ireland attracted more FDI from other EU countries. Iceland, on the other hand, which is not an EU country, attracted FDI from non-EU countries rather than from EU countries before the financial crisis. After the crisis, however, the origin within Europe, of FDI in Iceland had no significant effect on the flow of FDI into the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concept of vulnerability serves to focus protection on those most in need. While prominent in human rights law, protection of vulnerable groups is also increasingly invoked by international economic/financial actors such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The present article explores how vulnerability enters IMF policymaking. The article looks for points of contact of IMF practice, with a human rights-based conception of vulnerability. The aim of the article is not to revisit the discussion on human rights accountability of the IMF. Instead, the article seeks to identify and analyse the function of vulnerability in the policy-making of the Fund. The protection of vulnerable groups, the article claims, is gradually constituted as part of the law of the IMF. For this reason alone, it is of importance to know how vulnerability enters IMF policy-making and whom the IMF considers vulnerable. Moreover, the IMF also becomes a source for the identification of vulnerable groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agenda 2030 has set up a global partnership revitalized which has facilitating involvement intensive worldwide in support of the implementation of all objectives and targets, bringing together governments, civil society, private sector, United Nations system and other stakeholders and mobilizing all available resources.

The panic wrought by the 1997 Asian financial crisis spurred different mitigative measures. Some states assented to IMF bailout and restructuring, while others enforced capital control. Since then, despite intense academic and regulatory scrutiny of the nuances of the recession, empiric focus on recovery trajectory of affected countries centred chiefly around traditional GDP metrics; an approach that disregards economic performance in a manner congruent with Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). In this paper, we adopt a broader SDG-compatible approach by tracking two affected countries' (Korea and Malaysia) recovery via operationalizing an alternative growth indicator GPI (Genuine Progress Indicator). First, we construct a 35-year long GPI index from 1980 to 2014 and employ the Solow Growth Model to measure the impact of the two remedial measures on GDP and GPI of both countries. Employing an ARDL approach, we find external debt to impact significantly the GDP and GPI of Korea. Meanwhile for Malaysia, the controversial capital control failed to register significant impact. Moreover, unemployment rates, trade openness, fixed capital formation and the history of previous crises are found to be influential determinants of GDP and GPI, with credit and exchange rate variables showing ambiguous results. Image 1 • We track recovery paths of South Korea & Malaysia after 1997 Asian Financial Crisis. • Recovery is examined via traditional GDP and sustainable development-oriented GPI. • External debt significantly impacts economic growth in GDP & GPI for South Korea. • Capital control is an insignificant influence on either metric for Malaysia. • Unemployment, trade policy, capital formation and crises are significant determinants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Direito e Práxis is the property of Editora da Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (EdUERJ) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Established at the height of the Eurozone sovereign debt crisis, the intergovernmental European Stability Mechanism (ESM) has, potentially, considerable influence over decisions on the provision of loans to Eurozone member state governments and on the recapitalization of banks. Legally and organizationally, the ESM is an international financial institution and thus its accountability can be compared to that of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other international financial institutions. However, the ESM's governance structure and decision‐making procedures show that it is deeply embedded in the Eurozone governance architecture, resulting in a dual institutional embeddedness. Focusing on vertical and horizontal accountability combined with a learning perspective on accountability, this article presents an assessment of the accountability mechanisms applicable to the idiosyncratic ESM and how these mechanisms work in practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The policy advice literature has paid little attention to the role of international organizations in policy advisory systems. This article offers a systematic analysis of policy advice provided by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in the framework of the IMF's regular Article IV consultations. The article argues that the content of IMF advice differs according to the income of the advised countries. Content analyses of the Article IV consultation reports of 18 countries show correlations between the gross national income (GNI) of the advised countries and the function of advice in the policy cycle, the specificity of advice, the recommended policy instruments and the targeted policy issues. Results show that the IMF rather points to policy problems, advices on policy goals and focuses on improving implementation when advising lower income countries. When advising higher income countries, the IMF's advice focuses on means and specific policy tools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper has as main objective highlighting the principles underlying the Agenda 2030 of the rationale and motivations of the United Nations to implement it globally, especially bringing to the attention of the international community a new way that this can work in for a global commitment to a different future for people and planet - one that brings humanity on the path of development.

This article unveils the hitherto overlooked tensions between Chile and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) during the formative years of the dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet (from September 1973 to late 1977). This article shows that ideological affinity between the IMF and Pinochet's economic team of 'Chicago Boys' did not necessarily guarantee fruitful cooperation between the parties. The analysis of this intricate relationship sheds new light on the processes of economic neoliberalization that were conducted in Latin America, with different levels of IMF involvement, between the 1970s and the 1990s. By challenging axiomatic and simplistic approaches of IMF–Latin American relations, this article provides a unique prism to reconsider not only the IMF's motivations and constraints, but also the proactive modus operandi of its borrowing member-states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Direito GV is the property of Fundacao Getulio Vargas and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Direito e Práxis is the property of Editora da Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (EdUERJ) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Revista Jurídica (0103-3506) is the property of Revista Juridica and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This article examines China’s participation in the trade, monetary and development assistance fields and concludes that China’s rise does not undermine the centrality of the Bretton Woods institutions or Word Trade Organization (WTO) in global economic governance. Whereas China’s participation in the WTO presents some challenges to the long dominance of the United States and the European Union, it reaffirms the central role of the WTO. China’s monetary strategy also indicates the continuing importance of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in the international monetary regime. Whereas the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) introduces some competition to the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank (ADB), China’s efforts in establishing new multilateral development banks are mainly driven by its frustration with stalled reforms of the Bretton Woods institutions. By and large, China’s economic emergence does not challenge, but reaffirms, the post-World War II global economic architecture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista de Direito Internacional is the property of Revista de Direito Internacional and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This contribution examines the legal legitimacy of 'Article IV Consultations' performed by the IMF as part of its responsibility for surveillance under Article IV of its Articles of Agreement. The analysis focuses on tax recommendations given by the Fund to its member countries in the context of Consultations. This paper determines that these tax recommendations derive from a broad interpretation of the powers and obligations that have been agreed to in the Fund's Articles of Agreement. Such an interpretation leads to a legitimacy deficit, as member countries of the Fund have not given their state consent to receive recommendations as to which should be the tax policies it should adopt. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agenda 2030 has set up a global partnership revitalized which has facilitating involvement intensive worldwide in support of the implementation of all objectives and targets, bringing together governments, civil society, private sector, United Nations system and other stakeholders and mobilizing all available resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Europe faces challenges reminiscent of Latin American financial crises, namely unsustainable sovereign spreads, banking system distress, sudden stops in capital flows and growth rate collapse. The failure of recent liquidity support to normalize the situation suggests the need to refocus the policy debate on fundamentals: structural reform for growth and, where needed, restructuring to resolve banking crises and the debt overhang. Latin America’s experience yields relevant policy lessons for Europe on all these fronts, tempered only by the slight exception that sharp real devaluation, which was key to spearheading recovery in Latin America, is unfeasible in the eurozone. Struggling eurozone countries are caught between a rock and a hard place, as the currency union imposes strict policy constraints while the reintroduction of national currencies under conditions of crisis would be catastrophic. Nevertheless, contemporary Europe stands a better chance of recovery because, in contrast with the Latin America experience, the European Union possesses greater avenues for international cooperation. With respect to financial support, a resourceful European Central Bank able to avoid chaotic adjustment by brute force is a decisive advantage of Europe relative to Latin America, which only had access to the weaker and less reliable IMF. Arguably, the limited nature of external support strongly contributed to the depth of Latin America’s great collapses. European cooperation can explore and exhaust alternatives to a euro exit to the benefit of all union members and, if dissolution becomes unavoidable, ensure amicable support to ease the transition. The path to success remains uncharted, however, and implementation of the necessary regional mechanisms will require innovation and political will. If the available means of cooperation are not used effectively, crisis countries in Europe may fare worse than those in Latin America.

At the turn of the millennium, social protection became a new priority for both states of the global South and international development policy more generally. As, in the past, social protection policies were considered unsuitable for development countries, the elevation of social protection to the level of a preferred instrument of development marks a fundamental paradigm shift. This shift began in the late 1990s, driven by disenchantment with the results of economic adjustment programmes, the 1997 Asian economic crisis, and a heightened awareness of the negative effects of global poverty. Social protection thus became a preferred instrument of the Millennium Development Goals, while the World Bank promoted social protection as a key component of international poverty reduction strategies (social risk management). The Department for International Development (DfID) in the United Kingdom, along with other organisations, promoted a development model centred on the rights of the poor. Successful social protection programmes developed in the Global South – such as Brazilian and South African social pension schemes and conditional cash transfers (CCT) established in Mexico and Brazil – were adopted as model programmes at the global level. The purpose of this article is to analyse the emergence of social protection in development policies. From this perspective, it examines the various types of programmes promoted by the international community, with a specific focus on CCT. It concludes with an assessment of the relative appropriateness of social protection policies for developing countries.

O objetivo deste artigo é compreender as razões da maior autonomia burocrática do Banco Mundial em relação ao Fundo Monetário Internacional. Acreditamos que as razões desta diferença residem na burocracia com expertise mais diversificada do Banco Mundial em contraste com a burocracia de expertise mais rígida do FMI. Uma burocracia mais diversificada aumenta as possibilidades de formação de coalizões com ONGs em torno de policies de interesses comuns. Essas coalizões aumentam os custos de intervenção dos Estados para alterar ou barrar as policies defendidas pelo corpo burocrático. Assim, quanto maior a diversidade de expertise da burocracia internacional, maior será a possibilidade de formação de coalizões com ONGs em torno de policies de seu interesse e, consequentemente, maior será sua autonomia burocrática. Do ponto de vista teórico, utilizamos a teoria agente-principal para discutir burocracias internacionais. Usamos o método comparativo com base em instrumentos qualitativos de análise e estatística descritiva.The main goal of this article is to understand why the World Bank has reached more bureaucratic autonomy than the International Monetary Fund regardless the fact that both have similar institutional structures. We believe that the reason for such difference is a more diverse expertise of the World Bank compared to the IMF. We claim that a more diverse bureaucracy increases the likelihood of coalition formation with NGOs. Such coalitions aim to support policies that are important for both the bureaucracy and the NGO's. Consequently, they increase the costs for both State intervention and State control over the organization. The higher costs of intervention and control allow bureaucrats to act more freely according to their interests. Hence, our hypothesis is the following: the more diverse the bureaucratic expertise, the more likely is the formation of coalitions between bureaucracy and NGOs, and the greater the costs for State control and intervention. Higher intervention and control costs, in turn, increase bureaucratic autonomy. We use mainly qualitative research methods with some descriptive statistics.

Developing countries were hit hard by the financial and economic crisis, although the impact was somewhat delayed. Every country had different challenges to master. The closer the developing countries are interconnected with the world economy, the crasser the effects. And the incipient recovery that is becoming noticeable is, for the time being, restricted to only a few countries and regions.The crisis was transmitted primarily by trade and financial flows forcing millions back into poverty. Attainment of the Millennium Development Goals is seriously jeopardised in many countries. Many developing countries did not and do not have the resources to stimulate the economy and protect their socially disadvantaged populations to the same extent as the industrialised countries. However, many countries have made considerable efforts to mitigate the effects. Developing countries have also increased their cooperation with one another and are urgently demanding a greater voice in global economic affairs.The industrialised countries are for the most part more concerned with their own problems. Their readiness to provide more extensive aid is limited. They are under pressure from the international institutions to relax their previous dominance in favour of the increasingly strong emerging countries. A shift in power and influence that was already noticeable before the financial crisis is deepening.

During the European debt crisis, numerous states launched austerity programmes. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) evaluates and forecasts the likelihood of member states' success in implementing these programmes. Although IMF evaluations influence country risk perceptions on capital markets, little is known about their reasoning. This article uses fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) to explore on what grounds the IMF evaluated the success prospects of austerity programmes during the European debt crisis. Results reveal that IMF evaluations are heavily influenced by the programme's implementation credibility. They require a tractable policy problem, a country's institutional capacity to structure implementation, and favour expenditure reduction over revenue measures. By acting as a strict guide on the road to fiscal adjustment, the IMF indirectly influences member states' scope of policy making through its surveillance activities. Extensive austerity programmes that need to be implemented swiftly are evaluated negatively if the country is not involved in an IMF programme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How do international institutions adjust to shifting power distributions among their members? We argue that institutional adaptations to the rise of emerging and the decline of established powers are different from what power transition theories (PTTs) would lead us to believe. Institutional adaptations are not impossible, as pessimist PTT variants hold; and they are rarely easy to attain, let alone perfect, as optimist PTT variants imply. To bridge the gap between these versions of PTT, we propose an institutionalist power shift theory (IPST) which combines insights on the conditions and mechanisms of institutional change from functionalist, historical and distributive variants of rational institutionalism. IPST claims that institutional adaptations will succeed or fail depending on whether or not emerging powers are able to undermine the international institution and to make credible threats to this effect. To demonstrate IPST's plausibility we analyze: (1) how India and Brazil gained the agreement of established powers to their membership in the WTO core negotiation group ('Quad'), which had previously been dominated by developed countries; and (2) how China reached agreement with established powers on (more) even-handed surveillance of IMF members' financial stability, which, up to then, had focused on developing countries and exchange rate issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigated the impact of IMF structural adjustment policies (SAPs) on the Philippine economic performance. The study utilized critical analysis approach to evaluate secondary data from government statistics, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), World Bank, IMF and articles from online refereed journals. Analyses were focused on IMF prescribed SAP loan conditionalities pertaining to liberalization, export-oriented economic efficiency, privatization of estate owned assets, reducing government expenditures, and streamlining the bureaucracy. Findings revealed that trade liberalization implemented through stripping off restrictions of more than 900 items and reduction in nominal tariff protection fell short from the onset of global recession. Apparently, aggregate exports contracted instead of expanding while imports disproportionately increased when importers took advantage of the liberalized regime. This resulted to severe erosion of the Philippine industries which were left unable to compete in the open market. Government revenues, generated from the SAP driven privatization policy were redirected for debt servicing rather than being invested on productive programs and projects for economic development. This privatization policy even created local monopolies in the country’s capital market. Reduction in government expenditures through tightening of government budget, cuts in government subsidies and freezing the filling up of government vacant positions, failed to significantly impact on poverty alleviations and underpinned the much needed resources for basic health, education and social services delivery programs. In conclusion, the adherence by the Philippines to IMF loan conditionalities did not significantly benefit the country as manifested by the country’s sluggish economic development. The Philippines should never go back to the IMF loan portfolio, it should find other resources to propel growth and development away from IMF borrowing. Prudently however, it may continue to avail the Fund’s technical assistance program on monetary and international banking expertise without incurring external debt obligations from the Fund.

Copyright of Africa Development is the property of CODESRIA and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

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This article provides an assessment of the impact of changes to social security in Ireland during both the Celtic Tiger and crisis periods, comparing change in social security rates relative to prices and to median equivalized net income. It is argued that, contrary to some commentary, there was progress in terms of social welfare generosity during the Celtic Tiger years, despite Ireland adopting a low-tax economic model. However, in the latter years of the Celtic Tiger period, this progress was increasingly leveraged against precarious property-related taxes. Following the collapse of the housing bubble, the bank guarantee and the bailout, there has been substantial retrenchment of social security, both in terms of cuts to some of the primary social welfare payments, tightening of scheme rules as well as more direct cuts to less visible schemes. The article provides an assessment of these changes, ending on a cautionary note in arguing that the prospects for the future do not augur well given Ireland's continued commitment to a low-tax economic model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Estimates of the historic and future scale and location or “geography” of global poverty by income/expenditure have a long and contentious history. In recent projections made on global poverty, methods and assumptions vary so widely it is impossible to compare studies in a systematic way even on their estimates of current poverty. In light of this, we discuss the methodological issues arising and use a custom-built model to provide a new, consistent set of long-run estimates of global poverty to show the impact of different methods and assumptions on the scale and location of global poverty. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The global financial crisis has transformed the relationship between the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the European Union (EU). Until the crisis, the IMF had not lent to EU member states in decades, but now the two organisations closely coordinate their lending policies. In the Latvian and Romanian programmes, the IMF and the EU advocated different loan terms. Surprisingly, the EU embraced ‘Washington Consensus’-style measures more willingly than did the IMF, which much of the contemporary literature still portrays as an across-the-board promoter of orthodox macroeconomic policies. We qualify this stereotypical characterisation by arguing from a constructivist perspective that the degree of an organisation's autonomy from its members depends on the interpretation of its mandate. IMF staff viewed the Fund's technical mandate as an opportunity to react rather flexibly to the challenges of the latest crisis. By contrast, European Commission, as well as European Central Bank (ECB), staff interpreted the vast body of supranational rules as necessitating stricter adherence to economic orthodoxy. Thus, IMF lending policies were more flexible and, at least on fiscal issues, also less contractionary. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Abstract: A thorough review of twelve recent studies of production costs from different power generating technologies was conducted and a wide range in cost estimates was found. The reviewed studies show differences in their methodologies and assumptions, making the stated cost figures not directly comparable and unsuitable to be generalized to represent the costs for entire technologies. Moreover, current levelized costs of electricity methodologies focus only on the producer's costs, while additional costs viewed from a consumer perspective and on external costs with impact on society should be included if these results are to be used for planning. Although this type of electricity production cost assessments can be useful, the habit of generalizing electricity production cost figures for entire technologies is problematic. Cost escalations tend to occur rapidly with time, the impact of economies of scale is significant, costs are in many cases site-specific, and country-specific circumstances affect production costs. Assumptions on the cost-influencing factors such as discount rates, fuel prices and heat credits fluctuate considerably and have a significant impact on production cost results. Electricity production costs assessments similar to the studies reviewed in this work disregard many important cost factors, making them inadequate for decision and policy making, and should only be used to provide rough ballpark estimates with respect to a given system boundary. Caution when using electricity production cost estimates are recommended, and further studies investigating cost under different circumstances, both for producers and society as a whole are called for. Also, policy makers should be aware of the potentially widely different results coming from electricity production cost estimates under different assumptions. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Romania has ended a high growth cycle. The world economic crisis is worsening with every passing day and Romania increasingly feels the effects of this economic downturn. The sector of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) is the most dynamic in the Romanian economy, but it will also be one of the first to be hit by the global financial crisis the ripples of which have reached Romania as well. SMEs are now considered the most sensitive sector and worst affected by the economic climate. The economic crisis has prompted the member states of the European Union, too, to adopt packages of measures to counteract the effect of the crisis. Here below I will exemplify with the cases of Romania, the Italian Republic, the Federal Republic of Germany, the Slovak Republic and the Republic of Hungary.

This article examines the 'new constitutionalism ' of the free movement of capital at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) after the global economic crisis. It is argued that the concept of new constitutionalism, as developed by Stephen Gill, is an indispensable concept to understand the still growing institutionalization of neoliberal policies in constitutions, laws, institutions, and regulations. The latest attempt to further extend the constitutionalization of the free movement of capital, one of the pillars of neoliberalism, is the IMF's newly developed 'institutional view' on capital flows. This approach, while more pragmatic than earlier attempts, can be understood as a renewed effort to prevent emerging markets and developing countries from installing capital controls and deviating significantly from neoliberal policies. However, emerging markets and developing countries have opposed this new IMF framework. As such, the ability to further extend the new constitutionalism of the free movement of capital is severely weakened. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper examines the principles on which a reform of a quota based global economic institution like the International Monetary Fund (IMF) must be based, taking account of both the relative economic power of countries and the need for voice and representation of the poor countries. These principles are then used in the context of the global economic realities of the twenty-first century to examine the suitability of different variables in the IMF's quota formula. Based on this analysis a simple transparent formula is suggested, which will help increase the credibility and legitimacy of the IMF as a global macroeconomic and financial institution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reassesses the neo-liberal shift within British economic policy-making and the international political economy, focusing especially the role of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in the 1960s. The IMF has always used the conditions attached to its lending to try and shape borrower's policy; here we explore the evolving content of that conditionality and the economic ideas underpinning it. Using recently released IMF records, as well as other archives, we argue that the negotiations between the IMF and the UK Government in the 1960s can be seen as part of the Fund's drive towards a crucial change from discretionary to rules-based approaches to macroeconomic policy making. This drive took place within a struggle over a specific policy instrument, domestic credit expansion (DCE), at that time regarded as an important measure of monetary policy. The article locates the IMF advocacy of DCE within an attempt by the Fund to constrain discretionary policy-making through increasingly specific and binding rules. In response, UK Government officials began to pre-empt and even deceive the Fund to avoid being tied down. Our analysis unpacks which neo-liberal economic ideas the Fund embraced, noting its rejection of monetarism. In the period charted here (1965–69), the rules-based regime remained compatible with Keynesianism. However, the UK Government's grudging acceptance of this approach provided a crucial condition of possibility for a significant qualitative shift in macroeconomic policy-making when rules later became infused with an increasingly neo-liberal character. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main goal of this article is to understand why the World Bank has reached more bureaucratic autonomy than the International Monetary Fund regardless the fact that both have similar institutional structures. We believe that the reason for such difference is a more diverse expertise of the World Bank compared to the IMF. We claim that a more diverse bureaucracy increases the likelihood of coalition formation with NGOs. Such coalitions aim to support policies that are important for both the bureaucracy and the NGO's. Consequently, they increase the costs for both State intervention and State control over the organization. The higher costs of intervention and control allow bureaucrats to act more freely according to their interests. Hence, our hypothesis is the following: the more diverse the bureaucratic expertise, the more likely is the formation of coalitions between bureaucracy and NGOs, and the greater the costs for State control and intervention. Higher intervention and control costs, in turn, increase bureaucratic autonomy. We use mainly qualitative research methods with some descriptive statistics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The global financial system appears to be heading for a new crisis, triggered in large part by growing and unsustainable levels of global debt. Reserve currencies are an essential element of the world's current financial infrastructure, and are widely recognized for their role in facilitating international transactions. History has taught us that such currencies are also quite transient, being subject to adjustments and changes as economic conditions evolve over time. The United States dollar now serves as the de facto world's reserve currency. However, this is unlikely to continue unchallenged and unchanged into the future. The G20 and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) appear to be now considering a reserve currency, such as the Special Drawing Rights (SDR), which is obtained through participation of many currencies. The major question is not what will become the new global reserve currency, but how this new currency will be managed. One of the critical issues associated with this currency management effort is that of determining the information systems architecture that will be required, including whether an associated Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) would be helpful in managing this new global currency. An extremely important element in this currency determination activity is a strong governance protocol that all the governments and sovereigns will accept and comply with. Otherwise any new global reserve currency, regardless of whether it is associated with a major information systems architecture foundation, will likely be unsustainable. In this paper, we examine these issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]