Models of IMF lending

• Pages: 125

Page 125

Erica Gould outlined the perspectives of three competing models of the IMF.

Realist. Powerful states control IMF lending. The United States, the largest shareholder, controls IMF decisions, and lending thus reflects U.S. interests. The IMF is more likely to lend to a U.S. ally, determined by its voting record in the United Nations relative to the U.S. voting record.

But, Gould says, this measure of alliance may be capturing something different. For example, countries voting increasingly like the United States may be reforming or democratizing and are thus most likely to receive loans.

Source: Strom Thacker, 1999, "The High Politics of IMF Lending,"World Politics, Vol. 52, pp. 38-75. Bureaucratic. IMF staff and management determine IMF activities and lending, with changes in conditionality being driven internally by organizational actors.

(1) The IMF is viewed as an actor in itself with some autonomy to pursue its own interest and is not simply a conduit for state preferences. The IMF derives some autonomy through development of expert knowledge, which in turn has driven changes in conditionality.

(2) The IMF is trying to maximize...