Multilateral Institutions

Desmond McNeill, Morten Bøås

Description

In recent years, a great deal of public attention has been focussed on multilateral institutions such as the World Bank, IMF and WTO. This book offers students, practitioners and activists a critical guide to these and other major institutions - the Regional Development Banks and UNDP - that make up the multilateral development system. It analyses how they operate with respect to financing and lending, the various roles that they play, and related changes in their policy concerns - such as structural adjustment, sustainable development, and governance.



The emphasis is on politics within and also between multilateral institutions, analysing the relations – both competitive and collaborative – between, for example, the World Bank and UNDP. NGOs are also shown to be important actors, and the role they have played in recent years is critically assessed. The book concludes with some emerging trends: the ‘privatisation’ of the system, regionalisation, and ‘the politics of protest’.



Bøås and McNeill do not simply take the policies of multilateral institutions at face value, but ask how and why these policies came into existence. They seek to promote critical, but informed, engagement both with the member states of multilateral institutions and the institutions themselves.
Lists of tables and figures

Acknowledgement

List of abbreviations

1. Introduction: a ‘Critical Engagement’ Approach to Multilateral Institutions

2. The Structural Design of Multilateral Institutions

3. The Changing Priorities of Multilateral Institutions: From Technical Aid to Good Governance

4. The Politics of Multilateral Institutions – Unpacking the Black Box

5. The Future of Multilateral Institutions

References

Index

Sujets

• Economic Policy
• Public Policy
• Political Science
• Development studies
• General officer
• Political economy
• Development
• General

Informations

• Publié par: Pluto Press
• Date de parution: 20 février 2003
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781849641555
• Langue: English

Extrait

Multilateral Institutions

A Critical Introduction

Morten Bøås and Desmond McNeill

P Pluto Press LONDON • STERLING, VIRGINIA

First published 2003 by Pluto Press 345 Archway Road, London N6 5AA and 22883 Quicksilver Drive, Sterling, VA 20166–2012, USA

www.plutobooks.com

Copyright © Morten Bøås and Desmond McNeill 2003

The right of Morten Bøås and Desmond McNeill to be identified as the authors of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN 0 7453 1921 1 hardback ISBN 0 7453 1920 3 paperback

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Bøås, Morten, 1965- Multilateral institutions : a critical introduction / Morten Bøås and Desmond McNeill. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0–7453–1921–1 (hbk) –– ISBN 0–7453–1920–3 (pbk.) 1. Financial institutions, International. 2. International agencies. 3. Non–governmental organizations. 4. Globalization. 5. Sovereignty. 6. Economic assistance. 7. World Bank. 8. International Monetary Fund. 9. World Trade Organization. I. McNeill, Desmond. II. Title. HG3881 .B556 2003 341.7'5'06––dc21 2002015929

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Designed and produced for Pluto Press by Chase Publishing Services, Fortescue, Sidmouth, England Typeset from disk by Stanford DTP Services, Towcester, England Printed and bound in the European Union by Antony Rowe, Chippenham and Eastbourne, England

Contents

List of Tables Acknowledgements Abbreviations Multilateral Institutions: A Brief Guide

1

2

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Introduction: A ‘Critical Engagement’ Approach to Multilateral Institutions Multilateralism: A Critical Perspective The Structure of this Book Concluding Remarks

The Structural Design of Multilateral Institutions The Bretton Woods Institutions The World Bank The International Monetary Fund The Regional Development Banks The United Nations Development Programme The World Trade Organisation The Roles and Approaches of Multilateral Institutions: The Doctrine of Political Neutrality The Relationship Between Multilateral Institutions Concluding Remarks

The Changing Priorities of Multilateral Institutions: From Technical Aid to Good Governance In the Beginning ... Modernisation Through Technical Assistance The World Bank: From Structural Adjustment to Good Governance The Regional Development Banks The WTO and the IMF: Sustainable Development and Good Governance Conclusion: Policy Changes in and among Multilateral Institutions

vii viii ix xi

1 4 11 14

16 16 17 28 35 38 41

43 47 49

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63 72

80

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4

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Multilateral Institutions

The Politics of Multilateral Institutions – Unpacking the Black Box Politics in Multilateral Institutions: A Framework Governance and Cross-Cutting Issues: The Fine Art of Policy Making in Multilateral Institutions The Inspection Panel Function and the ADB in Samut Prakarn Legitimacy and Representation – A Case for Critical Engagement? The Politics of Protest Policy Making in Multilateral Institutions – The Art of the State?

The Future of Multilateral Institutions Revolution, Reform or Cosmetic Change? The Privatisation of Multilateral Institutions Civil Society and the Future of Multilateral Institutions Regionalism and Multilateral Institutions Conclusion: Critical Engagement and the Future of Multilateral Institutions

Notes Internet Resources Bibliography Index

90 92

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125 135

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139 141 142 149 151

156

160 168 170 179

List of Tables

2.1 World Bank permanent Board members (and votes as of 17 September 2001) 2.2 US voting shares in the World Bank, 1950–2000 2.3 Largest quotas and votes as of 5 March 2002 4.1 Multilateral institutions 4.2 Member states 4.3 Types of NGOs 4.4 Representation and legitimacy

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18 26 30 96 97 97 134

Acknowledgements

This book is one of the products of a collaboration between a political scientist (Morten Bøås) and an economist (Desmond McNeill) who, on the basis of very different experience, and for rather different reasons, found a common theoretical interest in, and practical commitment to, the topic of multilateral institutions in development. We woud like to thank the Research Council of Norway, and more specifically the programme entitled ‘The mul- tilateral system in the field of develoment’, which has provided generous financial support for our research. The programme also organised annual conferences at which research in progress was discussed. At the last of these, in Bergen in May 2002, an outline of the book was presented, and we are grateful for valuable comments received on that occasion. We would like to thank Anne Engh for valuable assistance in the preparation of this book. Our research has involved contacts with several multilateral organisa- tions, and we are grateful for assistance from staff of the Royal Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs – Ingrid Glad, Paal Aavatsmark, Olav Seim, Trond Folke Lindberg and others – in this regard, without in any way attributing to them responsibility for our findings. At Pluto Press we are grateful to Roger van Zwanenberg, Julie Stoll and Robert Webb for their efficiency and support, and, for her copy-editing, Jeanne Brady. Last, and certainly not least, we thank the Centre for Development and the Environ- ment (SUM) at the University of Oslo, for hosting the project, and providing a most stimulating and supportive milieu throughout.

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ABCDE ADB ADF AfDB ASEAN ATTAC

CIEL CTE EBRD ECOSOC ED EDF EF EFTA EIB EMIT

EPI FoE GATT GAVI GCI GDP GEF GMS GNP HDR IBRD ICOLD IDA IDB IFC ILO IMF

Abbreviations

Annual Bank Conference on Development Economics Asian Development Bank African Development Fund African Development Bank Association of South East Asian Nations Association pour une Taxation des Transactions Finan- cières L’aide aux Citoyens Center for International Environmental Law Committee on Trade and Environment European Bank for Reconstruction and Development United Nations Economic and Social Council executive director Environmental Defence Fund Environmental Defence European Free Trade Area European Investment Bank Working Group on Environmental Measures and Inter- national Trade Environmental Policy Institute Friends of the Earth General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade Global Alliance for Vaccination and Immunisation general capital increase gross domestic product Global Environment Facility Greater Mekong Subregion gross national product Human Development Report International Bank for Reconstruction and Development International Commission on Large Dams International Development Association Inter-American Development Bank International Finance Corporation International Labour Organisation International Monetary Fund

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Multilateral Institutions

IRN International Rivers Network JBIC Japan Bank for International Co-operation JEXIM Export–Import Bank of Japan MDB Multilateral development bank NGO Non-governmental organisation NRDC National Resources Defence Council NWF National Wildlife Federation ODA official development assistance OECD Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Develop- ment RDB regional development banks SAP structural adjustment programme SRF supplementary reserve facility SUNFED Special UN Fund for Economic Development TA technical assistance UN United Nations UNCED United Nations Conference on Environment and Devel- opment UNCHE United Nations Conference on the Human Environ- ment UNCTAD United Nations Conference on Trade and Development UNDP United Nations Development Programme UNECA United Nations Economic Commission for Africa UNF United Nations Foundation UNFIP United Nations Fund for International Partnerships UNHCR United Nations High Commission for Refugees USAID United States Agency for International Development Aid WCED World Commission on Environment and Development WDR World Development Report WTO World Trade Organisation WWF World Wildlife Fund

Multilateral Institutions: 1 A Brief Guide

WORLD BANK

Main activity: The World Bank provides long-term loans to gov- ernments for development projects, and short-term loans (1–3 years) for institutional policy reforms. The World Bank also provides technical assistance, mainly in the form of advice to gov- 2 ernments in borrowing countries. Headquarters: Washington, DC, USA Geographical area: Global: Middle-income countries (countries with per capita incomes between US$1506 and US$5445) and poorer countries defined as ‘creditworthy’ borrow from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), while the poorest countries (with per capita incomes of less than US$885) borrow from the International Development Association (IDA). Loans granted by the IDA are interest-free but borrowers pay a service charge of less than 1 per cent of the loan to cover admin- istrative costs. Country offices: 97 Staff: Approximately 10,000, of whom 8,000+ are based in Washington, DC Financial disbursements(in 2001): Total: US$17,251 million (60.79 per cent in hard loans and 39.20 per cent in soft loans) Credit rating: AAA Ownership structure: 184 member countries.

Voting Power in the IBRD

3 Selected countries

United States Japan Germany France United Kingdom

China India Indonesia

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Per cent of total

16.40 7.87 4.49 4.31 4.31

2.79 2.79 0.94

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Multilateral Institutions

Brazil Argentina Mexico

Nigeria South Africa Egypt

2.07 1.12 1.18

0.80 0.85 0.45

INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND

Main activity: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) lends money to member countries facing balance-of-payments problems. In return for financial assistance from the IMF, borrowing countries must implement economic reforms. Loans are disbursed in instal- ments and payment is tied to compliance with structural adjustment targets. The IMF also provides technical assistance in the form of: (a) design and implementation of fiscal and monetary policies, (b) institution building (for example, central bank, treasury, tax and customs departments, and statistical services), and (c) drafting and review of economic and financial legislation. Headquarters: Washington, DC, USA Geographical area: Global Country offices: None Staff: 2650 Financial (positive) commitments(in 2001): Total: US$18,154 million (91.29 per cent in hard loans and 8.70 per cent in soft loans) Credit rating: Not applicable Ownership structure: 184 member countries

Voting Power

Selected countries

United States Japan Germany France United Kingdom

China India Indonesia

Brazil Argentina Mexico

Per cent of total

17.11 6.14 6.00 4.95 4.95

2.94 1.93 0.97

1.41 0.99 1.20