Social spending targets in IMF concessional lending

US domestic politics and the institutional foundations of rapid operational change

Bibliographic Data

ID12315738
AuthorsLiam Clegg (0000-0002-0773-5988, University of York, corresponding author)
Year2014
Volume21
Issue3
Pages735-763
Publication date2014-01-16
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueReview of International Political Economy (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0969-2290 • E-ISSN: 1466-4526
PublisherRoutledge (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/09692290.2013.833958
OpenAlexW2064976627
LanguageEN
Citations received10
References cited62

This paper contributes to the literature on the mechanics of change in global economic governance. By synthesising an empirically driven case study with conceptual insights from the existing literature, I highlight three intervening variables that enabled the Legislative Mandates passed by the US Congress in 2009 on the use of social-spending targets (education and health expenditure ring fences) in IMF concessional lending to be rapidly translated into operational change. The intervening variables that stood between US domestic action and rapid operational change are: first, the existence of effective enforcement mechanisms to ensure compliance from the US Executive Director with the Mandate; second, preference congruence between other primary principals and the content of the Mandate, and; third, the existence of effective enforcement mechanisms to ensure compliance from IMF staff with the principals’ collectively-sanctioned goal. The outcome observed – the near universal incorporation of social-spending targets into concessional lending arrangements – adds credence to calls for further empirical work to assess the extent of a post-Washington Consensus transition at the IMF

Business · Conditionality · Corporate governance · Creditor · Debt · Economics · Enforcement · Macroeconomics · Mandate · Political science · Politics · Public economics · International Development and Aid · Law · Local Government Finance and Decentralization · Social Policy and Reform Studies · Accounting · Finance