At the end of World War II, the United States emerged as a world leader, putting into place international institutions based on its own liberal economic philosophy. Since then, the world has witnessed an increasing interconnectedness among states, with economic relationships continually blurring the distinction between domestic and international, as well as between state and societal forces. Much of the world associates this increased interconnectedness with human suffering around the globe. This dissertation seeks to test the effects of economic globalization on personal integrity violations within a state, on the whole. Specifically, I examine three aspects associated with globalization, trade openness, investment and IMF funding within a state. Liberal economic theory suggests that economic relationships should foster positive gains. Particularly, economic relationships engender economic prosperity, diffusion of norms and idea, as well as the growth of a middle class which increasingly demands respect for its political and civil rights. Consistent with the liberal paradigm, I find that open trade and investment lead to improved personal integrity rights. In addition, investment which originates from the hegemon is especially likely to increase a state's respect for personal integrity rights. Conversely, IMF funding is likely to provoke protests from people in recipient countries, which often leads to increased repression by the state. To the extent that the IMF chooses to place importance on human rights, future attention should be paid to the practices of recipient countries. Overall, this dissertation suggests overall support for the liberal paradigm, that open economic policies are most likely to lead to improved levels of personal integrity rights.

The International Monetary Fund was created to promote financial stability, global monetary cooperation, high employment, international trade and sustainable economic growth. Together with the World Bank, IMF has a "monopoly" on offering loan programs for countries in deep crises or for development projects. In this thesis, we examine the effect of IMF, i.e. loan size and quotas, on the economic growth and inflation rate, by applying a dynamic panel regression on our dataset. In addition, we look at how the IMF Quotas influence the size of the loans. Our empirical results display significant evidence that IMF loans influence the GDP growth in a positive manner, in the medium term. Both Control of Corruption and Voice & Accountability have a negative influence on the economic growth. In other words, less corruption and stronger civil rights will halt the growth level of the economy. We also determined that IMF Quotas is not a robust indicator of the loan size. It is only driven by the past loan levels. Regarding Inflation determinants, IMF loans are not affecting the Inflation in a significant manner, while FDI and Control of Corruption - do. FDI exercises a positive influence on the CPI, while perception of less corruption has a negative effect on Inflation rate. JEL Classification D73, E31, F12,...

Cette thèse part du constat selon lequel, malgré le développement important du secteur de la microfinance ces deux dernières décennies, sa performance auprès des pauvres reste faible, notamment en Afrique. Malgré son essor, il y existe une multiplicité d’acteurs de petite taille, ayant des portefeuilles de produits financiers relativement peu diversifiés et adaptés au financement des activités génératrices de revenu des populations à situation précaire et des ménages pauvres. De plus, les profits réalisés restent faibles, limités et les capacités d’autofinancement sont instables et limitées. La solution à ces différentes sources d’inefficacité nous semble résider dans le choix de l’option de la consolidation du secteur de la microfinance africaine.Cette thèse s’intéresse donc à la consolidation de l’industrie de la microfinance, avec comme principal but, l’amélioration de l’inclusion financière des pauvres. On admet que la consolidation peut améliorer les performances des institutions de microfinance, et contribuer efficacement à réduire le taux de pauvreté. Notre travail s’inscrit au cœur du débat initié entre l’approche « welfariste », et l’approche « institutionnaliste » de la microfinance, et démontre que non seulement l’atteinte du double objectif à savoir, l’obtention de la soutenabilité financière et l’amélioration des conditions de vie des populations pauvres, est possible, mais aussi que son impact n’est finalement pas une illusion.Pour illustrer cet objectif, nous avons tout d’abord examiné le secteur de la microfinance en identifiant les motifs de la consolidation (Première Partie). Puis nous avons développé et évalué les formes de consolidation en microfinance (Deuxième Partie). Cette étude s’est principalement inspirée des leçons relatives à la consolidation des secteurs bancaires américain, européen, et africain. L’examen des motifs de la consolidation en microfinance porte essentiellement sur les questions de la segmentation de l’offre, de la formation des microstructures de marchés, des performances limitées du secteur de la microfinance. L’analyse des formes consolidation s’intéresse à l’évaluation comparative de l’efficacité des IMF, à la présentation de l’approche « fédérale des caisses coopératives », et de l’approche commerciale des IMF en vue de leur transition au statut de banque de microfinance.Ces différentes formes de consolidation des IMF assurent la mise en place et le développement des institutions de grande taille, qui réduiront le taux d’exclusion financière et produiront probablement des effets positifs sur la croissance économique, et le niveau de vie des agents économiques. / Starting from the observation that despite the important development of the microfinance sector over the past two decades, its performance with the poor remains low. In spite of its growth, there is a very large number of small actors, with portfolios of financial products slightly diversified and adapted to the financing income-generating activities of the populations, widely posited under the poverty line. In addition, the profits remain weak, limited and the capacity of self-financing remains precarious. We try to show that these limits can be reversed in the context of financial consolidation.Our main interest relies on the consolidation of the industry of microfinance, with the main goal of improving financial inclusion for the poors. We admit that the financial consolidation can improve the performance of microfinance institutions, and contribute effectively to reduce the poverty rate. Our work fits in the heart of the debate between the "welfarist" approach and the "institutionalist" approach of microfinance, and demonstrates that not only achieving the double objective namely, obtaining financial sustainability and the improvement of the living conditions of the poors, is possible, but also that its impact is ultimately not an illusion.Hence we first examine the microfinance sector by identifying the various motives of financial consolidation. Then we develop and evaluate patterns of consolidation in microfinance. This study is primarily inspired by the literature on the banking consolidation in United Stated, Europe, and Africa.The exam of the financial consolidation motives evidences the large on the segmentation of supply, the formation of market microstructures, and the bounded performance. The development of consolidation models aims to benchmark the MFI’S efficiency, by presenting the “Federal cooperative unions” approach, "downscaling" and "upscaling" approaches of microfinance banks.These models of MFI’S development ensure the establishment and the development of large institutions, which will certainly in the future reduce the rate of financial exclusion and produce positive effects on economic growth, and on the quality of life of private agents.

Durante a crise asiática, ocorrida em 1997, Indonésia, Coreia e Tailândia enfrentaram uma intensa fuga de capitais que ocasionou sérios desequilíbrios em seus balanços de pagamentos. Diante das dificuldades, os países pediram socorro ao FMI e, em contrapartida aos empréstimos recebidos, se submeteram aos programas de ajuste da organização. O trabalho analisa os programas sob dois aspectos: o compliance das condicionalidades e o efeito sobre o desempenho econômico. O compliance é medido, por meio de um índice global, posteriormente separado em duas categorias: uma associada ao cumprimento de medidas macroeconômicas e outra vinculada às reformas estruturais. Os índices indicam o número de condições que foram cumpridas em relação ao número total de condições prescritas. Para os três países, os graus de compliance são altos. A partir dos resultados, é feita a verificação do efeito dos programas sobre as economias, mediante a análise da evolução de indicadores macroeconômicos selecionados. Conclui-se que o nível de compliance dos países está associado positivamente à recuperação da crise e à estabilidade econômica no longo-prazo, sendo mais forte a primeira relação. / During the Asian crisis, occurred in 1997, Indonesia, Korea and Thailand faced a severe capital flight which led to serious imbalances in their balance of payments. Given the difficulties, the countries requested the IMF\'s support and, as conditional to the loans, they submitted themselves to the adjustment programs. This research analyzes two aspects of the programs: compliance of Fund\'s conditionalities and the effects on economic performance. Compliance is measured by a global index that was, after, separated into two categories: one associated with the compliance of macroeconomic policies and other related to structural reforms. The indices indicate the number of conditions that were met as a proportion of the total number of conditions that were prescribed. For all countries, the levels of compliance are high. Taking into account the compliance results, the effects of the programs on the economies are verified by an analysis of the progress of selected macroeconomic indicators. The study presents evidences that the countries\' degrees of compliance are positively associated with the recovery from the crisis and the economic stability in the long run, being the first relationship stronger.

Esta pesquisa tem por objetivo analisar o processo de formação de coalizões dentro do Fundo Monetário Internacional e do Banco Mundial, evidenciando os motivos que levam os países a formarem blocos dentro dessas instituições. Como no FMI e no Banco Mundial as principais decisões são tomadas no âmbito do Diretório Executivo, este estudo se centrará na análise dos processos que levam à formação de alianças para a escolha de representantes nessa instância decisória. Por razões substantivas e metodológicas, este trabalho terá como escopo o caso brasileiro, buscando assim identificar os motivos que levariam os países a somarem seus votos na escolha de um brasileiro para representar seus interesses nessas instituições. Partindo da literatura que analisa como os países utilizam ajuda externa para perseguir seus objetivos, essa pesquisa analisará quantitativamente se os países mais pobres trocariam apoio político nas instituições financeiras internacionais por benefícios econômicos. Para tanto, será testada a hipótese de que os países que compõem a coalizão brasileira dentro dos Diretórios Executivos do FMI e Banco Mundial possuem mais chances de receber ajuda externa do Brasil do que os países que não apoiam o Brasil nessas instituições. Os resultados encontrados confirmam a hipótese. / This research analyzes the coalition formation processes within the International Monetary Fund and World Bank. More specifically, since the IMF and World Bank\'s main decisions are made by their Executive Directorate, this study focuses on the alliance formation for choosing the representatives for these boards. For substantive and methodological reasons, this work focuses on the Brazilian case, and identifies reasons why countries pool votes for a Brazilian to represent their interests within these organizations. Based on the literature about country\'s use of foreign aid to pursue foreign policy objectives, this paper quantitatively explores whether poor countries exchange their political support in the international financial arena for economic gains. Therefore, this research tests the hypothesis that members of the Brazilian constituencies in the IMF and World Bank are more likely to receive foreign aid from Brazil. The results confirm this hypothesis.

Durante a crise asiática, ocorrida em 1997, Indonésia, Coreia e Tailândia enfrentaram uma intensa fuga de capitais que ocasionou sérios desequilíbrios em seus balanços de pagamentos. Diante das dificuldades, os países pediram socorro ao FMI e, em contrapartida aos empréstimos recebidos, se submeteram aos programas de ajuste da organização. O trabalho analisa os programas sob dois aspectos: o compliance das condicionalidades e o efeito sobre o desempenho econômico. O compliance é medido, por meio de um índice global, posteriormente separado em duas categorias: uma associada ao cumprimento de medidas macroeconômicas e outra vinculada às reformas estruturais. Os índices indicam o número de condições que foram cumpridas em relação ao número total de condições prescritas. Para os três países, os graus de compliance são altos. A partir dos resultados, é feita a verificação do efeito dos programas sobre as economias, mediante a análise da evolução de indicadores macroeconômicos selecionados. Conclui-se que o nível de compliance dos países está associado positivamente à recuperação da crise e à estabilidade econômica no longo-prazo, sendo mais forte a primeira relação. / During the Asian crisis, occurred in 1997, Indonesia, Korea and Thailand faced a severe capital flight which led to serious imbalances in their balance of payments. Given the difficulties, the countries requested the IMF\'s support and, as conditional to the loans, they submitted themselves to the adjustment programs. This research analyzes two aspects of the programs: compliance of Fund\'s conditionalities and the effects on economic performance. Compliance is measured by a global index that was, after, separated into two categories: one associated with the compliance of macroeconomic policies and other related to structural reforms. The indices indicate the number of conditions that were met as a proportion of the total number of conditions that were prescribed. For all countries, the levels of compliance are high. Taking into account the compliance results, the effects of the programs on the economies are verified by an analysis of the progress of selected macroeconomic indicators. The study presents evidences that the countries\' degrees of compliance are positively associated with the recovery from the crisis and the economic stability in the long run, being the first relationship stronger.

This thesis deals with the development of the International Monetary Fund from its establishment to the present in connection with the changing reality in the world economy and with its reform in the new millennium that was caused by the unsuitable form of this institution considering the current situation in the world economy. In the third part it deals with the development of this reform in connection with the last financial crisis and with the impact of this crisis on the International Monetary Fund.

Esta pesquisa tem por objetivo analisar o processo de formação de coalizões dentro do Fundo Monetário Internacional e do Banco Mundial, evidenciando os motivos que levam os países a formarem blocos dentro dessas instituições. Como no FMI e no Banco Mundial as principais decisões são tomadas no âmbito do Diretório Executivo, este estudo se centrará na análise dos processos que levam à formação de alianças para a escolha de representantes nessa instância decisória. Por razões substantivas e metodológicas, este trabalho terá como escopo o caso brasileiro, buscando assim identificar os motivos que levariam os países a somarem seus votos na escolha de um brasileiro para representar seus interesses nessas instituições. Partindo da literatura que analisa como os países utilizam ajuda externa para perseguir seus objetivos, essa pesquisa analisará quantitativamente se os países mais pobres trocariam apoio político nas instituições financeiras internacionais por benefícios econômicos. Para tanto, será testada a hipótese de que os países que compõem a coalizão brasileira dentro dos Diretórios Executivos do FMI e Banco Mundial possuem mais chances de receber ajuda externa do Brasil do que os países que não apoiam o Brasil nessas instituições. Os resultados encontrados confirmam a hipótese. / This research analyzes the coalition formation processes within the International Monetary Fund and World Bank. More specifically, since the IMF and World Bank\'s main decisions are made by their Executive Directorate, this study focuses on the alliance formation for choosing the representatives for these boards. For substantive and methodological reasons, this work focuses on the Brazilian case, and identifies reasons why countries pool votes for a Brazilian to represent their interests within these organizations. Based on the literature about country\'s use of foreign aid to pursue foreign policy objectives, this paper quantitatively explores whether poor countries exchange their political support in the international financial arena for economic gains. Therefore, this research tests the hypothesis that members of the Brazilian constituencies in the IMF and World Bank are more likely to receive foreign aid from Brazil. The results confirm this hypothesis.

This research project aims to determine Indonesian business leaders perceptions of G7 behaviour towards Indonesia after Independence (1945/1949), at a time when the country is experiencing a severe financial and economic crisis (1997-2001). Is G7 behaviour considered colonial, economic rationalist, or collegial? Additionally, Indonesian business leaders' perceptions of economic and social development in Indonesia are measured, exploring a possible connection with perception of G7 behaviour. Within the context of this project, the researcher assumes that attitudes in Indonesia are significantly shaped by the impact of' an increasingly competitive and sophisticated global free-trade environment today versus one of exploitation and domination under past European colonial rule. The research questions on which the project is based emerged after detailed consideration of a large and varied number of publications concerning related historical and contemporary socio-economic, political issues and examination of recent inter-country comparative performance indicators (1996 to 2000). The background for the research project is framed within the context of Modern World-Systems theory which rose to prominence in the early 1970s, earlier theories about Intentional Underdevelopment, Dependency and Geography, and the more recent hypothesis on Enlightenment and Institutions theory, all attempting to explain why some countries are so poor and others are not. An exploratory study (Study 1) precedes the positivist research paradigm of the principal study (Study 2 - Stages 1 & 2), which is comprised of a pilot and a final stage. / The theoretical model put forward and corresponding final stage VIII cross-sectional survey data of the second study are subjected to structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis, to test hypotheses and theory about the associations between theoretical constructs of the model. SEM is a relatively new multivariate technique, which combines aspects of multiple regression and factor analysis. The results of the research show that the impact of colonial rule; the associated exploitation and consequent poverty are still remembered by Indonesian business leaders and as such may have the potential to negatively impact on bi-lateral and multi-lateral negotiations for much needed structural reform in Indonesia, particularly if key influential participants (such as the G7 and the international institutions they control) ignore historical legacies and associated cross-cultural sensitivities. Final stage results provided strong support for two out of the five key hypotheses offered. The findings clearly suggesting that intensifying G7 behaviour as defined in this thesis would invariably further heighten existing perceptions of colonial behaviour. Less encouraging test results were obtained for the remaining hypotheses and overall only qualified support could be given to the proposed theory. / The extent of which can be summarized as: "G7 behaviour is perceived as colonial, by Indonesian business leaders, and is significantly influenced by their perception of social development in Indonesia ". The research project was conceived in the absence of scholarly investigations into the historical impact of colonialism in Indonesia on present day attitudes and cultural values with respect to ready acceptance of predominantly Western concepts of globalisation, free trade, open markets and the need for crucial reform. Reforms, which often are imposed on developing nations during times of crisis by way of IMF - Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAP), harshly impacting on local populations.

<p>Monetary funding to developing countries is today accompanied by so called “Structural Adjustment Programs” (SAPs) imposed by the IMF and the World Bank, consisting of economical policy reforms that the countries have to undergo in order to be eligible for loans. The impact of these adjustment loans is widely criticized due to the negative effects observed. Our purpose is to investigate in depth why these adjustment programs have not delivered the expected results. We’ve found that there exist some undesirable consequences following SAP implementation that has a hindering effect on growth. These, combined with the complicate context in which the IMF and World Bank operates can be seen as the explanation for the adversity experienced.</p>