scholarly journals International Organizations Lending Policy, are There Strings Attached? A Case Study From the Latest Wave of Reforms in the Albanian Social Security System

SAGE Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 215824402110376
Author(s):  
Gentian Qejvanaj
Keyword(s):  
Social Security ◽  
World Bank ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
Social Security System ◽  
Security System ◽  
The World Bank ◽  
The World ◽  
Lending Policy ◽  
Social Security Reforms ◽  
The Eu

Pension policy reform in post-communist countries received attention from most international organizations since the early 1990s. Accordingly, Albania has implemented comprehensive liberalization and privatization of the state sector since transitioning to a market economy. This study will look at the impact that the European Union (EU), the World Bank, and the International Monetary Fund had in guiding the Albanian state-run social security system toward principles of decentralization, liberalization and privatization. Specifically, social security reforms between 2009 to 2019 will be examined, along with a focus on the side-effect of the conditions imposed by the three organizations. A mixed-method including literature review and secondary data analysis will empirically evidence growing inequality, with senior citizens poverty rate sharply rising due to reforms in social security. Our conclusions will argue that closer ties with the EU will keep social security in its current form, as the EU does not push for a specific pension system, while the World Bank policy influence will lose ground, thus freeing Albania from periodic social security reforms.

The autonomy of international organizations? The analysis of major powers’ influence over the World Bank’s aid policies

2021 ◽  
pp. 223386592110248
Author(s):  
Yooneui Kim ◽  
Youngwan Kim
Keyword(s):  
World Bank ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
Development Assistance ◽  
The United States ◽  
Official Development Assistance ◽  
Global Politics ◽  
Major Powers ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
The World Bank ◽  
The World

Are international organizations autonomous actors in global politics? This paper investigates whether and how major powers influence the World Bank’s official development assistance policies. Despite the World Bank’s attempts to maintain independence from its member states, we argue that major powers are still influential. Testing this expectation with the data of official development assistance provisions between 1981 and 2017, we find that the World Bank provides a higher amount of official development assistance to the recipient countries that receive a higher amount of such assistance from the major powers such as the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Japan. In addition, the World Bank is prone to provide a higher amount of official development assistance to the recipients that have a similar preference to the major powers. This study sheds light on the relations between major powers and international organizations.

Recognized and Violated by International Law: The Human Rights of the Global Poor

2005 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 717-745 ◽  
Author(s):  
THOMAS POGGE
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Civil Rights ◽  
International Law ◽  
World Bank ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Customary International Law ◽  
The World Bank ◽  
Institutional Structures ◽  
The World

Various human rights are widely recognized in codified and customary international law. These human rights promise all human beings protection against specific severe harms that might be inflicted on them domestically or by foreigners. Yet international law also establishes and maintains institutional structures that greatly contribute to violations of these human rights: fundamental components of international law systematically obstruct the aspirations of poor populations for democratic self-government, civil rights, and minimal economic sufficiency. And central international organizations, such as the WTO, the IMF, and the World Bank, are designed so that they systematically contribute to the persistence of severe poverty.

The EU Fiscal Risk Matrix – from government debt to climate liabilities

Studia BAS ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (67) ◽  
pp. 45-69
Author(s):  
Iustina Alina Boitan ◽  
Kamilla Marchewka-Bartkowiak
Keyword(s):  
World Bank ◽  
Major Conclusion ◽  
Risk Matrix ◽  
Eu Member States ◽  
Debt Burden ◽  
The World Bank ◽  
Fiscal Risk ◽  
The World ◽  
Main Components ◽  
The Eu

The aim of the article is to identify the main components of government overall liabilities based on the Fiscal Risk Matrix classification introduced by the World Bank in 1999, and to estimate the amount and structure of these liabilities in European Union countries (EU Fiscal Risk Matrix). The climate liabilities definition and methodology included in the EU Fiscal Risk Matrix is also a novelty of the research. The study covered EU member states in the period 2018–2019, taking into account available data from the Eurostat database. On this basis, the EU Fiscal Risk Matrix was developed with the estimated structure of the burden of government liabilities for individual countries and the EU as a whole. The article used statistical and comparative analysis. The major conclusion of our research involves the proposal to implement a unified European methodology of government overall liabilities classification based on the EU Fiscal Risk Matrix to assess the fiscal debt burden and transparency of fiscal policy.

East and West will divide over new Bosnian viceroy

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
World Bank ◽  
Common Interest ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The World Bank ◽  
The World ◽  
East And West ◽  
Dayton Agreement ◽  
Negative Behaviour ◽  
Roll Out ◽  
The Eu

Significance The summit’s avowed aim was to renew the EU-US ‘Transatlantic partnership’, including committing to upholding the international rules-based order built around the UN. It called for cooperation with Russia in areas of common interest despite its repeated “negative behaviour”. Such strains include Russia’s opposition to appointing a new high representative for Bosnia. Impacts Vucic’s call for regular reports from the high representative recognises his legitimacy while asserting Serbian interest in BiH. Croatian President Zoran Milanovic’s support for the 1995 Dayton agreement weakens outside backing for Bosnian Croat separatism. The World Bank has left its growth forecast for BiH unchanged from January, provided vaccine roll-out accelerates.

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