International Institutions in Shifting Power Relations

2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 19K01521
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 06020:International relations-related
• Research Institution: Aoyama Gakuin University (2020-2023); The University of Tokyo (2019)
• Principal Investigator: Kojo Yoshiko 青山学院大学, 国際政治経済学部, 教授 (30205398)
• Project Period (FY): 2019-04-01 – 2024-03-31
• Keywords: 国際制度 / 国際経済組織 / 勢力分布の変容 / 代表性 / 責任分担

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This study aims to examine the impact of subsequent changes in the distribution of power among member states on existing international institutions (global-scale international institutions) once they have been established. It focuses on international economic organizations (IMF, World Bank, GATT/WTO) and analyzes the relationship between burden-sharing and representation. The study reveals that in the IMF and World Bank, which adopted a weighted voting system backed by the overwhelming economic power of the United States, the demands for increased voting rights from countries with growing economic power (Japan and Germany in the 1990s, China in the 2000s) due to increased contributions were institutionally controlled due to the politicization within the United States.

Free Research Field

国際関係論、国際政治経済論

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

グローバル・ガバナンスでは多国間国際制度が果たす役割が増加する一方、多国間国際制度における加盟国間の勢力分布の変化によるレジームの変容が指摘される。国際制度論は、レジームの変容を説明する枠組み（contested regime, regime creation）を示しているが、制度内の変容のメカニズムの実証はほとんどなされていない。本研究は、責任分担と代表性の齟齬の発生を、加盟国と国際制度間における本人―代理人理論（principal-agent theory）を踏まえて分析し、そのメカニズムを考察し、多国間主義の動揺が指摘されている現在の国際関係において、その変容を考察する点で意義がある。