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Normative change from within: the International Monetary Fund's approach to Capital Account Liberalization

Chwieroth, Jeffrey (2008) Normative change from within: the International Monetary Fund's approach to Capital Account Liberalization. International Studies Quarterly, 52 (1). pp. 129-158. ISSN 0020-8833

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Identification Number: 10.1111/j.1468-2478.2007.00494.x

Abstract

Beginning in the mid-1980s, in the absence of active encouragement from the IMF's management or member states, the staff began to encourage the liberalization of capital controls as a norm. This behavior constitutes a puzzle for the conventional wisdom, which sees the "Wall Street-Treasury Complex" as responsible for the IMF's approach, as well as a blind spot for rationalist approaches, which offer little insight into processes that shape preference formation "from within" international organizations (IOs). In a context where the Fund's member states permitted the staff considerable discretion and autonomy, I argue the staff's initial adoption of the norm of capital freedom was largely shaped by three internal processes: administrative recruitment, adaptation, and learning. But norm adoption did not mean the end of internal discussion, and a vigorous debate emerged between "gradualists" and supporters of the "big bang" over how the norm should be interpreted and applied. In this "battle of ideas," I emphasize the critical role of internal entrepreneurship.

Item Type: Article
Official URL: http://www.wiley.com/bw/journal.asp?ref=0020-8833
Additional Information: © 2008 Wiley-Blackwell
Divisions: International Relations
Subjects: J Political Science > JX International law
Date Deposited: 06 Feb 2009 13:52
Last Modified: 03 Apr 2024 00:06
URI: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/22251

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