Regional Development Banks in Comparison
Banking Strategies versus Development Goals

A comparative study contributing to international relations and international political economy theory, raising substantive issues relating to aid, development, international relations and globalization.

Ruth Ben-Artzi (Author)

9781107163430, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 8 September 2016

294 pages, 41 b/w illus. 18 tables
23.5 x 15.8 x 2.4 cm, 0.59 kg

'Regional Development Banks in Comparison is a wonderful example of mixed-methods social science research. Ruth Ben-Artzi does a masterful job describing the split personalities of the world's most important regional development banks (RDBs) and asks whether their policy behavior reflects their identities as banks or as development institutions. The answer varies over time and across institutions, and the behavior of RDBs can be explained by synthesizing different theories of international organization. This book is a must-read for anyone who is interested in the history of RDBs, but also for anyone trying to figure out how to reform existing institutions or explain the behavior of new institutions like the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.' Michael J. Tierney, Hylton Professor of Government and International Relations, College of William and Mary, Virginia

In a study that contributes to international relations and international political economy theory, Ruth Ben-Artzi raises substantive issues relating to aid, development, international relations and globalization. Regional development banks (RDBs), designed by politicians and economists to maneuver through labyrinths of economic, social, and political development, possess the potential to be central players in the long-term planning involved in healing and advancing poverty-plagued regions. However, RDBs in particular have received little attention. With a systematic analysis comparing four central regional development banks, this book explores why there is a variation in strategy despite similar institutional design. The formal arrangements and raison d'être of RDBs is to assist developing countries in the process of poverty alleviation - a task that is often a risky investment. Focusing on the dichotomy between their banking and development roles, Ben-Artzi demonstrates that RDBs are potentially critical catalysts in the fight against poverty, even with their institutional limitations.

Introduction
1. International financial institutions, development, and regional development banks
2. Multilateral governance: theoretical and empirical underpinnings
3. Origins, politics, and structure of regional development banks
4. RDB loans and developing countries
5. Banks or development agencies?
6. Political and economic constraints, principals and agents, and prospects for development
Conclusion.

Subject Areas: International organisations & institutions [LBBU], Political economy [KCP], International institutions [JPSN]