Research Events
Networking Europe and the IMF
University of Warwick, October 8-10, 2014.
Convenors:
André Broome, Department of Politics and International Studies, University of Warwick
Leonard Seabrooke, Department of Business and Politics, Copenhagen Business School
Workshop Summary:
This workshop provides a forum for work in progress on the IMF and European policy networks. Papers will discuss the changing role of the IMF in European policy networks, be it through lending, monitoring, or training. The workshop provides a forum for discussing new policy stances from the Fund on capital flow management, financial regulation, taxation, and other issues, and how they are linked to Europe during this most recent period of austerity. Attending authors are not obliged to submit their work for a special issue or collection, but there will be an open discussion at the end of the workshop for those who seek to collaborate further on a publication and future grant funding opportunities. Places for the workshop are limited and those selected will have their expenses covered for the flights and hotel. Please apply by sending a 400 word abstract to A.J.Broome@warwick.ac.uk and ls.dbp@cbs.dk by December 1 2013.
Funding for the workshop is provided by the Global Re-ordering: Evolution through European Networks grants provided by the European Commission's Framework Seven Programme.
Benchmarking in Global Governance
University of Warwick, March 12-14, 2014.
Convenors:
André Broome, Department of Politics and International Studies, University of Warwick
Joel Quirk, Department of Political Studies, University of the Witswatersrand
Workshop Program
Workshop Summary:
Global benchmarking involves the formulation and dissemination of a series of standardised metrics and rankings which are designed to determine how specific actors, populations and institutions have been performing in comparison to their international peers. In order to move our understanding of global benchmarking processes and practices beyond single issue areas, this project employs a multidisciplinary approach, with expert collaborators from the disciplinary fields of international law, international polical economy, international security, policital theory, health, and human rights.
Between Change and Continuity: The International Monetary Fund and Economic Crises
Boston University Center for Finance, Law & Policy, April 8-9, 2013.
Convenors:
Cornel Ban, Department of International Relations, Boston University
Kevin Gallagher, Department of International Relations, Boston University
Workshop Program
Workshop Summary:
Has the crisis changed the International Monetary Fund and if so how? The main finding of the workshop was that while some remarkable changes did occur, they were too modest to suggest that an economic paradigm change is imminent. The contributors noted that the IMF took a half-step on capital account regulation, became more open to the preferences of developing countries, relaxed its erstwhile strict commitment to austerity, and has become more reserved towards cross-border banking and the involvement of private sector consultants in its financial surveillance teams. At the same time, the Fund has narrowed down the scope of its programs to a predominantly orthodox economic policy agenda, continued to make counter-cyclical policies conditional on bond market sentiment, and contributed to the weakening of recovery via its continued discrimination in favor of foreign creditors and neglect of governments’ debt to domestic creditors. In terms of the relevance of this hesitation between change and continuity, the contributors found that in most cases the Fund’s opening has been more obvious in its research and policy advice than in its loan programs. Contrary to conventional wisdom, the global economic crisis has exacerbated ideological policy differences with regard to initiating IMF programs in post-communist Eastern Europe while reducing the once stronger ideological divergence in Latin America.
Europe and the IMF: Governing an Unexpected Relationship through Turbulent Times
ECPR Joint Sessions of Workshops, Johannes Gutenburg University, March 11-14, 2013.
Convenors:
Katharina Gnath, Hertie School of Governance, Berlin
Zdenek Kudrna, Institute for European Integration Research, University of Vienna
Workshop Program
Workshop Summary:
After decades of no engagement in advanced European economies, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) reappeared at the center of crisis management and economic policy-making in Europe. The rapprochement between the IMF and Europe has upset traditional governance procedures and policies at both ends of the relationship and triggered unprecedented – and unexpected – changes. The workshop took place in the context of the 41st Joint Sessions of Workshops of the European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR). It brought together political scientists, economists and legal scholars from across Europe working on the changing relationship between the European Union and the IMF. It provided a venue for a first analysis of these shifts in political and economic relations between the EU and the IMF on the basis of existing theories of international political economy and global governance. The papers clustered around three related themes: The first theme focused on the role of the EU and member states’ representatives in the IMF and changes to its governance facilitated by the crisis. The second theme concentrated on policy learning and transfers of policy experiences between the IMF and EU. The third theme centered on country case studies with IMF and EU involvement.