An analysis of the relationship between the international economic-legal regime and the achievement of balanced and stable growth through the international economic cycle

Abstract

The global economy is controlled by an 'international economic–legal regime' (hereinafter "IELR"), in which international economic institutions (hereinafter "IEIs") are the major nonstate actors. They provide the rules of the game for the interaction of the States in an international economic scenario. These IEIs, through their institutional capacity, enhance certainty and predictability within the IELR, thereby passively supporting stable and a balanced growth of global economy. This thesis argues that opportunities to achieve stable and balanced growth, in which both the financial and the real side of the economy grow, can be improved if the IEIs increase their focus on the relationship between the Economic Cycle and the IEIs' institutional role. This argument is developed by analysing the relationship between the IEIs' institutional role and the Economic Cycle, first describing the Economic Cycle, and then clarifying the functioning of the IEIs in their institutional role. To narrow the scope of this research, this thesis takes two IEIs as case studies; namely, the IMF and the WTO