Program of the 1st Annual Conference on
The Political Economy of International Organizations
February 3 – 8, 2008
Room check-in Sunday 03/02/2008 starting at 13:00
Conference registration starting at 14:15
Paper packet of all conferences papers (13.3MB .zip file)
Sunday, February 3, 2008
16.30-16.40 Opening / Introduction
16.40-17.00 The History of Monte Verità, Claudia Lafranchi
17.00-18.00 Keynote 1
Bruno S. Frey (University of Zurich), Outside and inside competition for international organizations. From analysis to innovation.
18.00-19.30 Session 1: General issues and recent debates
Chair: Axel Dreher
Ira N. Gang (Rutgers University), Gil S. Epstein (Bar Ilan University), The political economy of the internal relations of international organizations, Discussion: Lawrence Broz, Nikitas Konstantinidis.
Simon Hug (University of Zurich and CIS), Bargaining, delegation and enforcement in international organizations, Discussion: Ales Bulir, Michael Tierney.
Dan Maliniak (U.C. San Diego), Michael J. Tierney (College of William and Mary), The Study of International Organizations within (American) Political Science, Discussion: Raymond Ritter, Bruno Frey.
19.30 Dinner
Monday, February 4, 2008
9.00-10.00 Keynote 2
Jakob de Haan (University of Groningen), The communication policy of the ECB: An assessment.
10.00-10.15 Coffee Break
10.15-11.45 Session 2: The Political Economy of UN Organizations
Chair: Bruno Frey
Franziska Brantner, Thomas König (University of Mannheim), The Reformability of the United Nations, Discussion: Parvin Alizadeh, Inge Kaul.
Florens Flues, Axel Michaelowa, Katharina Michaelowa (University of Zurich and CIS), UN approval of greenhouse gas emission reduction projects in developing countries: The political economy of the CDM Executive Board, Discussion: Thomas König, Thomas Bernauer.
Varun Gauri (World Bank), What Difference do Human Rights Treaties Make? The Convention on the Rights of the Child and Basic Immunization, Discussion: Mohammed Abouharb, Mark Thompson-Schneebeli.
12.00-13.30 Lunch
13.30-15.00 Session 3: The Political Economy of the IMF (I)
Chair: Silvia Marchesi
Martin Gonzalez-Eiras (Universidad de San Andrés), Quotas and Voting Shares in the IMF: Theory and Evidence, Discussion: Mark Copelovitch, Martin Paldam.
Marcel Fratzscher, Julien Reynaud (European Central Bank), Is IMF Surveillance Even-handed? Discussion: Jeffrey Chwieroth, Mohammed Abouharb.
Christian Thimann, Christian Just, Raymond Ritter (European Central Bank), The Governance of the IMF: How a dual board structure could raise the effectiveness and legitimacy of a key global institution, Discussion: Laura Sabani, Ruxanda Berlinschi.
15.00-15.15 Coffee Break
15.15-16.45 Session 4: The Political Economy of the WTO (I)
Chair: Simon Hug
Thomas Sattler (Princeton University), Thomas Bernauer (ETH Zurich, CIS), Dispute initiation in the WTO, Discussion: Susanne Neheider, Mark Copelovitch.
Christian Bjørnskov (Aarhus University), The collapse in the Doha round – who’s to blame? Discussion: Manfred Elsig, Mayur Patel.
Manfred Elsig (World Trade Institute), Agency Theory and the WTO: Complex Agency and “Missing Delegation”? Discussion: Justina Fischer, Raymond Ritter.
16.45-17.15 Coffee Break
17.15-18.45 Session 5: The Political Economy of the World Bank (I)
Chair: Ira Gang
Kathryn Lavelle (Case Western Reserve University), The US congress, interest groups, and policy change in the World Bank, Discussion: Roland Vaubel, Florens Flues.
Ashwin Kaja (Harvard College), Eric Werker (Harvard Business School), Institutionalized Insiders: Board membership and loan commitments at the World Bank, Discussion: James Vreeland, Martin Paldam.
Hristos Doucouliagos (Deakin University), Martin Paldam (Aarhus University), A meta-analysis of development aid allocation: The effects of income level and population size, Discussion: Christopher Kilby, Stefanie Bailer.
19.15 Dinner
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
9.00-10.00 Keynote 3
Lawrence Broz (University of California, San Diego), Congressional Voting on Funding the International Financial Institutions.
10.00-10.15 Coffee Break
10.15-11.45 Session 6: The Political Economy of the EU (I)
Chair: Jakob de Haan
Stefanie Bailer (University of Zurich), A political economy of preferences in EU negotiations, Discussion: Justina Fischer, Nicola Maaser.
Friedrich Heinemann, Philipp Mohl, Steffen Osterloh, (Centre for European Economic Research), Who’s afraid of an EU tax and why? Discussion: Michael Lamla, Pierre-Guillaume Méon.
Nicola Maaser (University of Hamburg), Lobby cartels and the status quo, Discussion: Ales Bulir, Jose Fernandez-Albertos.
12.00-13.30 Lunch
13.30-15.00 Session 7: The Political Economy of the IMF (II)
Chair: Randall Stone
Axel Dreher, Martin Gassebner (ETH Zurich, KOF Swiss Economic Insitute), Do IMF and World Bank programs induce government crises? Discussion: Lawrence Broz, Eric Werker.
Silvia Marchesi (University of Milano Bicocca), Laura Sabani (Università degli Studi di Firenze), Agency and Communication problems in IMF Conditional Lending, Discussion: Julien Reynaud, Jakob de Haan.
Bessma Momani (University of Waterloo), Getting a Seat at the IMF Executive Board Table, Discussion: Martin Gonzalez-Eiras, Inge Kaul.
15.00-15.15 Coffee Break
15.15-16.45 Session 8: The Political Economy of the WTO (II)
Chair: Thomas Bernauer
Mayur Patel (Oxford University), New faces in the green room: developing country coalitions and decision-making in the WTO, Discussion: Sebastian Wilckens, Estella Montado.
Todd Allee (University of Illinois), Clint Peinhardt (University of Texas at Dallas), Not the Least BIT Rational: An Empirical Test of the “Rational Design” of Investment Treaties, Discussion: Stephanie Rickard, Friedrich Heinemann.
Robert Shum (Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies), Sinners or Sinned Against? Domestic Economic Institutions and the Political Economy of WTO Trade Complaints, Discussion: Todd Allee, Mohammed Sowah.
16.45-17.15 Coffee Break
17.15-18.45 Session 9: The Political Economy of the World Bank (II)
Chair: Christopher Kilby
Christa Hainz (University of Munich LMU), Hendrik Hakenes (Max Planck Institute, Bonn), The politician and his banker, Discussion: Kathryn Lavelle, Bruno Frey.
Tony Porter (McMaster University), The IMF, the World Bank, and the Inter-Play between power and efficiency in the politics of publicness, formality, and scale, Discussion: Franziska Brantner, Sophia Haenny.
Christopher Kilby (Vassar College), The political economy of conditionality: An empirical analysis for World Bank enforcement, Discussion: Eric Werker, Daniel Maliniak.
19.15 Departure for Conference Dinner
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
9.00-10.30 Session 10: Various
Chair: Stefanie Bailer
Etienne Farvaque (Université de Lille), Norimichi Matsueda (Kwansei Gakuin University), Pierre-Guillaume Méon (ULB Brussels), How committees reduce the volatility of policy rates, Discussion: Susanne Neheider, Christa Hainz.
Nikitas Konstantinidis (Princeton University), Gradualism and uncertainty in international union formation, Discussion: Ira Gang, Jeffrey Chwieroth.
Estela Montado, The Political Economy of Anti-dumping in Europe, Discussion: Martin Gassebner, Christian Bjørnskov.
10.30-10.45 Coffee Break
10.45-12.15 Session 11: The Political Economy of the IMF (III)
Chair: James Vreeland
Mark Copelovitch (University of Wisconsin-Madison), Master or Servant? Agency Slack and the politics of IMF Lending, Discussion: Laura Sabani, Martin Gassebner.
Jeffrey Chwieroth (London School of Economics), Cheerleading for Liberalization: The International Monetary Fund and Financial Globalization in Emerging Markets, Discussion: Randall Stone, Daniel Maliniak.
Randall Stone (Rochester University), The Scope of IMF Conditionality, Discussion: James Vreeland, Bessma Momani.
12.15-13.30 Lunch
14.00-18.00 Excursion to Bellinzona
19.15 Dinner
Thursday, February 7, 2008
9.00-10.00 Keynote 4
Roland Vaubel (University of Mannheim), The political economy of labor market regulation by the EU.
10.00-10.15 Coffee Break
10.15-11.45 Session 12: The Political Economy of the EU (II)
Chair: Martin Paldam
Justina Fischer (Stockholm School of Economics), Volker Hahn (ETH Zurich), Determinants of Trust in the European Central Bank, Discussion: Thomas König, Mark Thompson-Schneebeli.
Christian Conrad, Michael Lamla (ETH Zurich, KOF Swiss Economic Institute), The High-Frequency Response of the EUR-US Dollar Exchange Rate to ECB Monetary Policy Announcements, Discussion: Stefania Zotteri, Pierre-Guillaume Méon.
Thomas König (University of Mannheim), Why do veto players waste their time? Commissioners proposal power and member states scrutiny in EU legislative decision making, Discussion: Stefanie Bailer, Varun Gauri.
12.00-13.45 Lunch
13.45-15.15 Session 13: The Political Economy of the WTO (III)
Chair: Martin Gassebner
Sebastian Wilckens (Christian-Albrechts-University Kiel), Should WTO dispute settlement be subsidized? Discussion: Mayur Patel, Simon Hug.
Stephanie Rickard (Dublin City University), Choosing conflict: explaining non-compliance with GATT/WTO restrictions on narrow transfers, Discussion: Clint Peinhardt, Christian Bjørnskov.
Todd Allee (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign), Developing Countries and the Initiation of GATT/WTO Disputes, Discussion: Robert Shum, Manfred Elsig.
15.15-15.45 Coffee Break
15.45-17.15 Session 14: The Political Economy of the EMU
Chair: Roland Vaubel
Fabrizio Balassone, Daniele Franco, Stefania Zotteri (Banca d’Italia), The reliability of EMU fiscal indicators: Risks and safeguards, Discussion: Jose Fernandez-Albertos, Simon Hug.
Ales Bulir (IMF), Jaromir Hurnik (Czech National Bank), Maastricht inflation criterion and the choice of disinflation strategy in new member countries, Discussion: Roland Vaubel, Michael Tierney.
Jose Fernandez-Albertos (Institut Barcelona d’Estudis Internacionals), The domestic institutional sources of monetary integration in the open economy, Discussion: Stefania Zotteri, Michael Lamla.
19.15 Dinner
Friday, February 8, 2008
9.00-10.00 Keynote 5
James R. Vreeland (Yale University), The Political Economy of the UNSC.
10.00-10.15 Coffee Break
10.15-11.45 Session 15: The Political Economy of the IMF and the World Bank
Chair: Katharina Michaelowa
Axel Dreher (ETHZ), Stefanie Walter (UniZH), Does the IMF Help or Hurt? The Effect of IMF programs on the likelihood and outcome of currency crises, Discussion: Stephanie Rickard, Katharina Michaelowa.
Mohammed Abouharb (Louisiana State University), David L. Cingranelli (Binghampton University), The Human Rights Effects of International Monetary Fund Structural Adjustment Agreements, 1981-2003, Discussion: Tony Porter, Parvin Alizadeh.
Ruxanda Berlinschi (Toulouse School of Economics), Reputation concerns in aid conditionality, Discussion: Silvia Marchesi, Christa Hainz.
11.45 -12.00 p.m. Concluding remarks / end of conference
