Freedom and Finance

Within a decade, private capital surpassed aid as the primary capital source for developing countries. This book explores how the increase of private funds, in particular portfolio capital, effects democratization in developing countries. A probe into institutional investors' coordination, asset concentration, political preferences, and activism, provides a framework for understanding the politics of international financial constraints. Highlighting the dilemma presented by international finance's simultaneous emphasis on austerity and stability, the question of whether this public-to-private shift might facilitate an anti-democratic strain is examined.

Mary Ann Haley directly tackles, and conclusively refutes, a crucial tenet of the contemporary international financial liberalizers: their claim that laissez faire international capital flows promote freedom in developing countries. Her careful study demonstrates that capital account liberalization, demanded from abroad, severely constrains the economic policy options of elected leaders in emerging market countries...This book provides a timely and important counter-weight to the prevalent, but mistaken, claim that open capital markets, including for short-term flows, and democracy reinforce one another.' - Leslie Elliott Armijo, Visiting Scholar, Reed College

Autorentext
MARY ANN HALEY is a Lecturer at Fairfield University in Connecticut. Her previous publications include Emerging Market Makers: The Power of Institutional Investors. She has served as vice president of Intercontinental Publications; a company dedicated to technology transfer to developing countries.

Inhalt
List of Tables List of Figures Acknowledgements List of Abbreviations List of Appendices Private Investment Flow and Institutional Investors Institutional Investors as Political Actors Institutional Investor Preferences Expression of Preferences: Systems of Investor Knowledge Front-running, Investor Activism, and Lobbying Democratizations and the Institutional Investor Appendices Notes Bibliography Index