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Do domestic politics shape U.S. influence in the World Bank?

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  • Erasmus Kersting

    (Villanova University)

  • Christopher Kilby

    (Villanova University)

Abstract

Do U.S. presidential administrations exert more informal influence over international financial institutions when they face an uncooperative Congress and thus have less control over bilateral aid? Reexamining four empirical studies of the World Bank, we demonstrate that U.S. informal influence is driven by years with divided U.S. government. This provides a richer picture of when and why the U.S. exerts influence in multilateral settings and an alternate explanation to persistent questions about the role of international organizations in the international political economy.

Suggested Citation

  • Erasmus Kersting & Christopher Kilby, 2021. "Do domestic politics shape U.S. influence in the World Bank?," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 16(1), pages 29-58, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:revint:v:16:y:2021:i:1:d:10.1007_s11558-018-9321-8
    DOI: 10.1007/s11558-018-9321-8
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    Cited by:

    1. Balázs Szent-Iványi & Bernhard Reinsberg & Simon Lightfoot, 2019. "Small Donors in World Politics: The Role of Trust Funds in the Foreign Aid Policies of Central and Eastern European Donors," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 31(3), pages 663-683, July.
    2. Dreher, Axel & Lang, Valentin & Reinsberg, Bernhard, 2024. "Aid effectiveness and donor motives," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 176(C).
    3. Bernhard Reinsberg, 2017. "Xu, Jiajun. 2017. Beyond US Hegemony in International Development: The Contest for Influence at the World Bank. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press)," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 12(3), pages 491-495, September.
    4. Christopher Kilby & Carolyn McWhirter, 2022. "The World Bank COVID-19 response: Politics as usual?," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 17(3), pages 627-656, July.
    5. Avellán, Leopoldo & Galindo, Arturo J. & Lotti, Giulia & Rodríguez, Juan Pablo, 2024. "Bridging the gap: Mobilization of multilateral Development Banks in Infrastructure," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 176(C).
    6. Erasmus Kersting & Christopher Kilby, 2019. "The rise of supplemental lending at the World Bank," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 52(4), pages 1655-1698, November.
    7. Oliver Westerwinter & Kenneth W. Abbott & Thomas Biersteker, 2021. "Informal governance in world politics," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 16(1), pages 1-27, January.
    8. Kaya, Ayse & Kilby, Christopher & Kay, Jonathan, 2021. "Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank as an instrument for Chinese influence? Supplementary versus remedial multilateralism," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 145(C).
    9. Axel Dreher & Katharina Michaelowa, 2008. "The political economy of international organizations," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 3(4), pages 331-334, December.
    10. Haibo Ruan & Li Qiu & Jun Chen & Shuo Liu & Zhiyuan Ma, 2022. "Government Trust, Environmental Pollution Perception, and Environmental Governance Satisfaction," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(16), pages 1-18, August.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    World Bank; Divided government; Geopolitics of aid;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F35 - International Economics - - International Finance - - - Foreign Aid
    • F53 - International Economics - - International Relations, National Security, and International Political Economy - - - International Agreements and Observance; International Organizations
    • O19 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - International Linkages to Development; Role of International Organizations

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