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Has globalization diluted the power of national governments to regulate their own economies? Are international governmental and nongovernmental organizations weakening the hold of nation-states on global regulatory agendas? Many observers think so. But in All Politics Is Global, Daniel Drezner argues that this view is wrong. Despite globalization, states--especially the great powers--still dominate international regulatory regimes, and the regulatory goals of states are driven by their domestic interests. As Drezner shows, state size still matters. The great powers--the United States and the European Union--remain the key players in writing global regulations, and their power is due to the size of their internal economic markets. If they agree, there will be effective global governance. If they don't agree, governance will be fragmented or ineffective. And, paradoxically, the most powerful sources of great-power preferences are the least globalized elements of their economies. Testing this revisionist model of global regulatory governance on an unusually wide variety of cases, including the Internet, finance, genetically modified organisms, and intellectual property rights, Drezner shows why there is such disparity in the strength of international regulations.

The financial crisis that began in 2007 in the United States swept the world, producing substantial bank failures and forcing unprecedented state aid for the crippled global financial system. Bringing together three leading financial economists to provide an international perspective,Balancing the Banksdraws critical lessons from the causes of the crisis and proposes important regulatory reforms, including sound guidelines for the ways in which distressed banks might be dealt with in the future. While some recent policy moves go in the right direction, others, the book argues, are not sufficient to prevent another crisis. The authors show the necessity of anadaptiveprudential regulatory system that can better address financial innovation. Stressing the numerous and complex challenges faced by politicians, finance professionals, and regulators, and calling for reinforced international coordination (for example, in the treatment of distressed banks), the authors put forth a number of principles to deal with issues regarding the economic incentives of financial institutions, the impact of economic shocks, and the role of political constraints. Offering a global perspective,Balancing the Banksshould be read by anyone concerned with solving the current crisis and preventing another such calamity in the future.

The crash of 2008 revealed that the world's central banks had failed to offset the financial imbalances that led to the crisis, and lacked the tools to respond effectively. What lessons should central banks learn from the experience, and how, in a global financial system, should cooperation between them be enhanced? Banking on the Future provides a fascinating insider's look into how central banks have evolved and why they are critical to the functioning of market economies. The book asks whether, in light of the recent economic fallout, the central banking model needs radical reform.

Despite the widely recognized significance of technical systems in contemporary life, the implications of these systems for international institutions have not received much attention. This article develops a technical systems approach to international institutions. Technology is a form of knowledge like others that have been recognized as important in the creation of international institutions. However technology has three additional distinctive features which are especially important in structuring actors' conduct: material embeddedness; complex path dependence; and technical authority. I specify a set of propositions which state that in international institutions in issue areas with technical systems their creation, content of norms, structure, development and sources of political conflict are all shaped by the technical system with which these institutions interact. I then apply this approach to the study of the emerging regime for international financial regulation, contrasting it to approaches that focus more exclusively on the role of states.

Purpose - As a consequence of the global financial crisis and widespread disquiet over executive bonuses and other remuneration, in April 2009 the Financial Stability Forum enunciated principles for sound compensation as part of an effort to ensure the effective governance of compensation. The core problem this article seeks to address is the measurement of the contribution of corporate executives to the intrinsic value of the firm as part of an initial step in the process of implementing the Financial Stability Forum's principles. Unless the contribution of corporate executives can be measured in a manner that satisfies the requirements of sound research methodology, rigorous epistemology, and statutory requirements, it is doubtful whether these principles can be operationalized. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to show how the contribution of corporate executives can be estimated from audited financial statements. From the core problem and purpose of this article, its title is drawn. Design/methodology/approach - Relevant sections of the report of the Financial Stability Forum 2009, the UK Corporate Governance Code of 2010, and the UK Companies Act of 2006, in conjunction with important reviews such as the Turner Review of 2009 and the Walker Review of 2009 were studied. Data inputs from audited financial statements were applied to appropriate well-established non-controversial valuation equations that are based on \"first-principles\" of corporate finance, and the contribution of corporate executives to the intrinsic value of the firm was estimated in order to illustrate the validity of this approach. Findings - The paper shows that contribution to the intrinsic value of the firm made by corporate executives can be measured in a non-controversial and transparent way, and once done, can form the basis for quantifying executive remuneration on the basis of valued-added. No attempt is made to address the fractional share of value-added that should be placed in a bonus-pool. Originality/value - From an extensive survey of publicly available literature, there is no evidence to suggest that the measurement of the contribution of corporate executives to the intrinsic value of the firm, as part of an initial step in the process of implementing the principles of the Financial Stability Forum 2009, has yet been published.

This paper considers supranational initiatives - particularly those emanating from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the Financial Action Task Force and the Financial Stability Forum - proposing changes in the regulation of offshore financial centres. The implications of the withdrawal of US support for elements of the initiative are reviewed. The underlying rationales for change are considered, as are the probable and appropriate response for the stakeholders in the offshore centres, including governments, financial institutions and clients.

'Investor Protection and Corporate Governance' analyzes the impact of corporate governance on firm performance and valuation. Using unique datasets gathered at the firm-level—the first such data in the region—and results from a homogeneous corporate governance questionnaire, the book examines corporate governance characteristics, ownership structures, dividend policies, and performance measures. The book's analysis reveals the very high levels of ownership and voting rights concentrations and monolithic governance structures in the largest samples of Latin American companies up to now, and new data emphasize the importance of specific characteristics of the investor protection regimes in several Latin American countries. By and large, those firms with better governance measures across several dimensions are granted higher valuations and thus lower cost of capital. This title will be useful to researchers, policy makers, government officials, and other professionals involved in corporate governance, economic policy, and business finance, law, and management.

The EU Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive provides tools to deal effectively with unsound or failing banks. Some provisions of this directive are designated as overriding mandatory provisions as referred to in Article 9 Rome I Regulation. The author analyses the effectiveness of the designation of a rule as an overriding mandatory provision, given the principle of private international law that parties can choose the applicable law and the competent forum. His conclusion is that in an international context overriding mandatory provisions are not always as overriding or as mandatory as they may seem at first sight. This may be acceptable with regard to 'normal' overriding mandatory provisions. However, the author argues that financial stability is so important that overriding mandatory provisions that protect financial stability need special treatment.

The recent financial crisis is challenging the reform approach to mandated pension a scheme that has emerged over recent decades across the world. This reform approach is characterized by a move toward multi-pillar pension systems and includes the creation or extension of a mandatory funded pillar with defined contribution design. The rationale and viability of such a pillar is contingent on an enabling environment and the delivery of high risk-adjusted net rates of return that beat the natural benchmark, which is the internal rate of return that an unfunded mandated scheme is able to achieve. Two key aspects of mandated and funded defined contribution schemes have been under discussion and investigation since dedicated pension funds were created: (a) the high fees levied by privately organized pension funds and the consequence for the net rate of return; and (b) the investment products of these funds and their capability to address the investment risks and to deliver the expected retirement income in a life-cycle context. To this end, country policies have experimented with a variety of approaches to improve outcomes with some important leads but overall modest results. This book proposes to take a fresh and highly innovative look at both policy issues. It suggests stepping back and looking at the underlying causes of the issues at stake instead of merely trying to address their symptoms. In addressing the high fees of pension funds, it focuses on the less-than-ideal conditions inert consumers facing firms with market powers and proposes to apply solutions derived from industrial organization models and pricing methods that better reflect the cost structure of the supply of pension services. In addressing the investment risks, it asks how to improve fund managers' risk-adjusted investment performance when participants are inert.

Empirical analysis of two decades of pioneering pension and social security reform in Latin America and the Caribbean shows that much has been achieved, but that critical challenges remain. In tackling this unfinished agenda, a great deal can be learned from the reform experience of countries in the region. Keeping the Promise, produced by the chief economist's office in the Latin America and Caribbean Region at the World Bank, evaluates policy reforms in 12 countries, points to successes and shortcomings, and proposes priorities and options for future reform. \"Keeping the Promise provides a timely assessment of two decades of pension reform experience-with a wealth of new data, and empirical evaluation of reformed social security systems. Many economists and policymakers will not be persuaded by some of the main conclusions and recommendations-such as the supposed failure to increase coverage, and the call for strengthening a pay-as-you-go defined-benefit scheme for poverty prevention-but they will welcome the book's critical appraisal. This is required reading for pension specialists and policymakers in Latin America and beyond.\" -Klaus Schmidt-Hebbel, Chief of Economic Research, Central Bank of Chile \"A heavyweight analysis of the Latin American pension revolution which raises important questions about the optimal scale of compulsory saving when redesigning pension systems.\" -Paul Wallace, The Economist.