Thomas Stubbs
Biographic Data
| ID | 267259 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Thomas Stubbs |
| GIVEN NAMES | Thomas |
| FAMILY NAME | Stubbs |
| SIGNATURE | STUBBS T |
| AFFILIATIONS | Royal Holloway University of London |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-2624-9272 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 29 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 312 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 29 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1982 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 10 |
Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations Leading the Way in Child Health Research
Historically, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander research in Australia has adhered to Western research paradigms and contributed to the adverse impacts of colonisation. However, recent developments driven by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and scholars, and development of ethical guidelines for research, have promoted a more inclusive and collaborative research landscape. In this study, published papers and internal documents aris…
Models of care for Indigenous children in rural and remote settings
Indigenous communities internationally have demonstrated remarkable strength despite significant challenges. Health disparities among Indigenous peoples persist due to historical injustices and ongoing racial discrimination, not inherent vulnerabilities. Disparities are rooted in a legacy of colonisation, systemic exclusion, and socio-economic inequities impacting access to healthcare, education, and employment. Preliminary searches show limited …
Progressive Rhetoric, Regressive Reality
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has faced scrutiny over the alignment between its public rhetoric and actual policy advice vis‐à‐vis progressive taxation. This article analyzes the IMF's tax recommendations to 125 countries between 2022 and 2024, drawing on a novel dataset of 1049 tax reform proposals extracted from Article IV surveillance reports. While the IMF has publicly endorsed progressive taxation to reduce inequality and support fis…
Social protection and the International Monetary Fund
BACKGROUND: Countries in the Global South are currently facing momentous economic and social challenges, including major debt service problems. As in previous periods of global financial instability, a growing number of countries have turned to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for financial assistance. The organization has a long track-record of advocating for extensive fiscal consolidation-commonly known as 'austerity'-for its borrowers. Ho…
The return of austerity imperils global health
Recognising the world’s lack of preparedness for the COVID-19 pandemic, international organisations like the World Health Organization, World Bank, and International Monetary Fund are calling for extensive additional funding to strengthen pandemic preparedness and response systems in low-income and middle-income countries, including through domestic resource mobilisation. This article examines the prospects of national health budgets increasing i…
Structural adjustment, alienation, and mass protest
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is (in)famous for its structural adjustment programs, which provide fresh credit for borrowing governments in exchange for market-liberalizing policy reforms. While studies have documented a causal relationship between structural adjustment and political instability, scholarly understanding of the mechanisms underlying this relationship remain perfunctory. The received wisdom is that IMF policy conditions gen…
Austerity Redux
The convergence of health, economic and social crises over the past 1.5 years has posed profound questions over the direction of travel for the world after COVID‐19. The narrative emerging out of major international organizations like the International Monetary Fund stresses avoiding a ‘divergent recovery’, whereby some countries steam ahead with high growth rates underpinned by robust government interventions and others fall further behind. In t…
Uncovering the advertising and promotional strategies of tobacco companies in Cambodia
This study provides evidence that illegal below-the-line marketing is still occurring in Cambodia, and increased monitoring and enforcement of advertising restrictions is needed
Compliance, defiance, and the dependency trap
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is infamous for its structural adjustment programs, requiring countries to undertake policy reforms in exchange for loans. Yet, not only do countries routinely fail to implement these reforms, but they also frequently return to the IMF to start the process anew. What explains this compelling case of transnational regulatory ineffectiveness? We argue that countries are caught in a dependency trap: politically …
Unimplementable by design? Understanding (non‐)compliance with International Monetary Fund policy conditionality
Why do governments fail to implement policy commitments in contractual agreements with international organizations? While scholars have scrutinized domestic factors as obstacles to compliance, we argue that reform programs may beunimplementable by design. We study this hypothesis in the context of International Monetary Fund (IMF) programs, in which borrowing countries must commit to far‐reaching economic policy reforms for access to credit. We c…
Do health halos and conspicuous consumption influence the appeal and risk perceptions of e-cigarettes among young Cambodian men
Some young people may perceive e-cigarettes as a form of conspicuous consumption, which they associated with social status and identity. A health halo effect appears to be associated with e-cigarettes among some young people. This may influence young people to underestimate the potential health risks associated with these devices
Creating crony capitalism
This article examines how neoliberal policies mandated by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) impact on corruption in developing countries. Combining domestic political analysis with world systems and dependency theories, we hypothesize that these reforms concentrate losses on influential social groups such as businesses and civil servants, who then engage in corrupt practices to maintain their privileged positions. Using an original dataset of…
Whatever it takes? The global financial safety net, Covid-19, and developing countries
Taxing the People, Not Trade
Strengthening fiscal capacity in low- and middle-income countries is essential for achieving sustainable development. The International Monetary Fund—the world’s premier agent of fiscal policy reform—has taken a front-stage role in this process, promoting a model of tax policy that favors broad-based consumption taxes and discourages trade taxes. This article investigates the links between IMF-mandated tax reforms and the evolution of tax revenue…
Bad governance
International organizations have become key actors in the fight against corruption. Among these organizations, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) maintains a powerful position over borrowing countries in its ability to mandate far‐ranging policy reforms – so‐called “conditionalities” – in exchange for access to financial assistance. While IMF pressure can force the implementation of anti‐corruption policies, potentially reducing corruption, ot…
Globalization and health equity
Among the many drivers of health inequities, this article focuses on important, yet insufficiently understood, international-level determinants: economic globalization and the organizations that spread market-oriented policies to the developing world. One such organization is the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which provides financial assistance to countries in economic trouble in exchange for policy reforms. Through its 'structural adjustmen…
The International Monetary Fund’s interventions in food and agriculture
The political economy of labor market deregulation during IMF interventions
This study examines the relationship between policy interventions by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and de jure labor rights. Combining two novel data sets with unprecedented country-year coverage – leximetric data on labor laws and disaggregated data on IMF conditionality – our analysis of up to 70 developing countries from 1980 to 2014 demonstrates that IMF-mandated labor market policy measures significantly reduce both individual and co…
The World System and the Hollowing Out of State Capacity
The administrative ability of the state to deliver effective policy is essential for economic development. While sociologists have long devoted attention to domestic forces underpinning state capacity, the authors focus on world system pressures from Western-dominated international organizations. Scrutinizing policy reforms mandated by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the authors argue that “structural conditions” exert deleterious effects …
How structural adjustment programs affect inequality
Targeted social safeguards in the age of universal social protection
In offering loans to low-income countries in exchange for policy reforms, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) typically sets the fiscal parameters within which health systems develop. In a recent report released by the organisation, the IMF claims that their programmes have promoted social protection, including access to health care. We revisit the findings presented in the IMF’s assessment. Drawing on material collected from the IMF and empiri…
The IMF and government health expenditure
The impact of IMF conditionality on government health expenditure
Competition states in the neoliberal era
The Varieties of Capitalism approach envisages a process by which national capitalisms converge towards two distinct institutional formations. In contrast, it is argued here that countries singularly converge towards the regulatory bias of the prevailing model of development, but divergence exists within this convergence because unevenly developing countries respond contingently to the regulatory dilemmas of capitalism. This claim is empirically …
IMF conditionality and development policy space, 1985–2014
In recent years, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has re-emerged as a central actor in global economic governance. Its rhetoric and policies suggest that the organization has radically changed the ways in which it offers financial assistance to countries in economic trouble. We revisit two long-standing controversies: Has the policy content of IMF programmes evolved to allow for more policy space? Do these programmes now allow for the protec…
IMF conditionality and development policy space, 1985–2014
In recent years, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has re-emerged as a central actor in global economic governance. Its rhetoric and policies suggest that the organization has radically changed the ways in which it offers financial assistance to countries in economic trouble. We revisit two long-standing controversies: Has the policy content of IMF programmes evolved to allow for more policy space? Do these programmes now allow for the protec…
Globalization and health equity
Among the many drivers of health inequities, this article focuses on important, yet insufficiently understood, international-level determinants: economic globalization and the organizations that spread market-oriented policies to the developing world. One such organization is the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which provides financial assistance to countries in economic trouble in exchange for policy reforms. Through its 'structural adjustmen…
The World System and the Hollowing Out of State Capacity
The administrative ability of the state to deliver effective policy is essential for economic development. While sociologists have long devoted attention to domestic forces underpinning state capacity, the authors focus on world system pressures from Western-dominated international organizations. Scrutinizing policy reforms mandated by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the authors argue that “structural conditions” exert deleterious effects …
Structural adjustment and public spending on health
The impact of IMF conditionality on government health expenditure
Whatever it takes? The global financial safety net, Covid-19, and developing countries
The political economy of labor market deregulation during IMF interventions
This study examines the relationship between policy interventions by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and de jure labor rights. Combining two novel data sets with unprecedented country-year coverage – leximetric data on labor laws and disaggregated data on IMF conditionality – our analysis of up to 70 developing countries from 1980 to 2014 demonstrates that IMF-mandated labor market policy measures significantly reduce both individual and co…
How structural adjustment programs affect inequality
Catalyzing Aid? The IMF and Donor Behavior in Aid Allocation
Relative surplus population and uneven development in the neoliberal era
This paper offers the groundwork of an alternative to mainstream (un)employment theory that builds on Marx's account of the 'active army' and 'relative surplus population'. With special application to the current neoliberal era, Marx's long-range labour market analysis is connected to a mid-range account of capitalism's uneven development in historical practice. This alternative approach is then adapted to an 'empirically adequate' statistical ma…
Compliance, defiance, and the dependency trap
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is infamous for its structural adjustment programs, requiring countries to undertake policy reforms in exchange for loans. Yet, not only do countries routinely fail to implement these reforms, but they also frequently return to the IMF to start the process anew. What explains this compelling case of transnational regulatory ineffectiveness? We argue that countries are caught in a dependency trap: politically …
Bad governance
International organizations have become key actors in the fight against corruption. Among these organizations, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) maintains a powerful position over borrowing countries in its ability to mandate far‐ranging policy reforms – so‐called “conditionalities” – in exchange for access to financial assistance. While IMF pressure can force the implementation of anti‐corruption policies, potentially reducing corruption, ot…
Structural adjustment, alienation, and mass protest
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is (in)famous for its structural adjustment programs, which provide fresh credit for borrowing governments in exchange for market-liberalizing policy reforms. While studies have documented a causal relationship between structural adjustment and political instability, scholarly understanding of the mechanisms underlying this relationship remain perfunctory. The received wisdom is that IMF policy conditions gen…
Unimplementable by design? Understanding (non‐)compliance with International Monetary Fund policy conditionality
Why do governments fail to implement policy commitments in contractual agreements with international organizations? While scholars have scrutinized domestic factors as obstacles to compliance, we argue that reform programs may beunimplementable by design. We study this hypothesis in the context of International Monetary Fund (IMF) programs, in which borrowing countries must commit to far‐reaching economic policy reforms for access to credit. We c…
Creating crony capitalism
This article examines how neoliberal policies mandated by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) impact on corruption in developing countries. Combining domestic political analysis with world systems and dependency theories, we hypothesize that these reforms concentrate losses on influential social groups such as businesses and civil servants, who then engage in corrupt practices to maintain their privileged positions. Using an original dataset of…
The International Monetary Fund’s interventions in food and agriculture
Taxing the People, Not Trade
Strengthening fiscal capacity in low- and middle-income countries is essential for achieving sustainable development. The International Monetary Fund—the world’s premier agent of fiscal policy reform—has taken a front-stage role in this process, promoting a model of tax policy that favors broad-based consumption taxes and discourages trade taxes. This article investigates the links between IMF-mandated tax reforms and the evolution of tax revenue…
The Reminiscences of Thomas Stubbs
Relative surplus population and uneven development in the neoliberal era
This paper offers the groundwork of an alternative to mainstream (un)employment theory that builds on Marx's account of the 'active army' and 'relative surplus population'. With special application to the current neoliberal era, Marx's long-range labour market analysis is connected to a mid-range account of capitalism's uneven development in historical practice. This alternative approach is then adapted to an 'empirically adequate' statistical ma…
Catalyzing Aid? The IMF and Donor Behavior in Aid Allocation
Structural adjustment and public spending on health
Competition states in the neoliberal era
The Varieties of Capitalism approach envisages a process by which national capitalisms converge towards two distinct institutional formations. In contrast, it is argued here that countries singularly converge towards the regulatory bias of the prevailing model of development, but divergence exists within this convergence because unevenly developing countries respond contingently to the regulatory dilemmas of capitalism. This claim is empirically …
IMF conditionality and development policy space, 1985–2014
In recent years, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has re-emerged as a central actor in global economic governance. Its rhetoric and policies suggest that the organization has radically changed the ways in which it offers financial assistance to countries in economic trouble. We revisit two long-standing controversies: Has the policy content of IMF programmes evolved to allow for more policy space? Do these programmes now allow for the protec…
Targeted social safeguards in the age of universal social protection
In offering loans to low-income countries in exchange for policy reforms, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) typically sets the fiscal parameters within which health systems develop. In a recent report released by the organisation, the IMF claims that their programmes have promoted social protection, including access to health care. We revisit the findings presented in the IMF’s assessment. Drawing on material collected from the IMF and empiri…
The IMF and government health expenditure
The impact of IMF conditionality on government health expenditure
The International Monetary Fund’s interventions in food and agriculture
The political economy of labor market deregulation during IMF interventions
This study examines the relationship between policy interventions by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and de jure labor rights. Combining two novel data sets with unprecedented country-year coverage – leximetric data on labor laws and disaggregated data on IMF conditionality – our analysis of up to 70 developing countries from 1980 to 2014 demonstrates that IMF-mandated labor market policy measures significantly reduce both individual and co…
The World System and the Hollowing Out of State Capacity
The administrative ability of the state to deliver effective policy is essential for economic development. While sociologists have long devoted attention to domestic forces underpinning state capacity, the authors focus on world system pressures from Western-dominated international organizations. Scrutinizing policy reforms mandated by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the authors argue that “structural conditions” exert deleterious effects …
How structural adjustment programs affect inequality
Whatever it takes? The global financial safety net, Covid-19, and developing countries
Taxing the People, Not Trade
Strengthening fiscal capacity in low- and middle-income countries is essential for achieving sustainable development. The International Monetary Fund—the world’s premier agent of fiscal policy reform—has taken a front-stage role in this process, promoting a model of tax policy that favors broad-based consumption taxes and discourages trade taxes. This article investigates the links between IMF-mandated tax reforms and the evolution of tax revenue…
Bad governance
International organizations have become key actors in the fight against corruption. Among these organizations, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) maintains a powerful position over borrowing countries in its ability to mandate far‐ranging policy reforms – so‐called “conditionalities” – in exchange for access to financial assistance. While IMF pressure can force the implementation of anti‐corruption policies, potentially reducing corruption, ot…
Globalization and health equity
Among the many drivers of health inequities, this article focuses on important, yet insufficiently understood, international-level determinants: economic globalization and the organizations that spread market-oriented policies to the developing world. One such organization is the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which provides financial assistance to countries in economic trouble in exchange for policy reforms. Through its 'structural adjustmen…
Do health halos and conspicuous consumption influence the appeal and risk perceptions of e-cigarettes among young Cambodian men
Some young people may perceive e-cigarettes as a form of conspicuous consumption, which they associated with social status and identity. A health halo effect appears to be associated with e-cigarettes among some young people. This may influence young people to underestimate the potential health risks associated with these devices
Creating crony capitalism
This article examines how neoliberal policies mandated by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) impact on corruption in developing countries. Combining domestic political analysis with world systems and dependency theories, we hypothesize that these reforms concentrate losses on influential social groups such as businesses and civil servants, who then engage in corrupt practices to maintain their privileged positions. Using an original dataset of…
Austerity Redux
The convergence of health, economic and social crises over the past 1.5 years has posed profound questions over the direction of travel for the world after COVID‐19. The narrative emerging out of major international organizations like the International Monetary Fund stresses avoiding a ‘divergent recovery’, whereby some countries steam ahead with high growth rates underpinned by robust government interventions and others fall further behind. In t…
Uncovering the advertising and promotional strategies of tobacco companies in Cambodia
This study provides evidence that illegal below-the-line marketing is still occurring in Cambodia, and increased monitoring and enforcement of advertising restrictions is needed
Compliance, defiance, and the dependency trap
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is infamous for its structural adjustment programs, requiring countries to undertake policy reforms in exchange for loans. Yet, not only do countries routinely fail to implement these reforms, but they also frequently return to the IMF to start the process anew. What explains this compelling case of transnational regulatory ineffectiveness? We argue that countries are caught in a dependency trap: politically …
Unimplementable by design? Understanding (non‐)compliance with International Monetary Fund policy conditionality
Why do governments fail to implement policy commitments in contractual agreements with international organizations? While scholars have scrutinized domestic factors as obstacles to compliance, we argue that reform programs may beunimplementable by design. We study this hypothesis in the context of International Monetary Fund (IMF) programs, in which borrowing countries must commit to far‐reaching economic policy reforms for access to credit. We c…
The return of austerity imperils global health
Recognising the world’s lack of preparedness for the COVID-19 pandemic, international organisations like the World Health Organization, World Bank, and International Monetary Fund are calling for extensive additional funding to strengthen pandemic preparedness and response systems in low-income and middle-income countries, including through domestic resource mobilisation. This article examines the prospects of national health budgets increasing i…
Structural adjustment, alienation, and mass protest
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is (in)famous for its structural adjustment programs, which provide fresh credit for borrowing governments in exchange for market-liberalizing policy reforms. While studies have documented a causal relationship between structural adjustment and political instability, scholarly understanding of the mechanisms underlying this relationship remain perfunctory. The received wisdom is that IMF policy conditions gen…
Political science (25 works) · Economics (24 works) · Economic growth (16 works) · International Development and Aid (16 works) · Politics (14 works) · Developing country (11 works) · Business (10 works) · Market economy (10 works) · Development economics (9 works) · Conditionality (8 works)