This volume explores the politics and public policy aspects of central banking in Europe through a theoretically-informed and empirically-grounded analysis of central banking governance before and after the establishment of the Economic and Monetary Union.

The book presents a theoretically informed typology of modes of governance which is tested in a careful selection of comparative country and policy studies. At the core is the question whether the European Union is destined to a network type of governance and whether and how this type of governance will be translated into the member states. The individual chapters subject the governing patterns at European and national level to empirical scrutiny. Drawing on recent research findings in different issue areas - including monetary union, social affairs, environment, genetic engineering and market liberalisation in transport, banking, energy, professional services - the contributions highlight the impact of the European activities on policy-making process in the member states.

The book is about money, central banking and constitutions. It explains how the European Central Bank was established to ensure stability and prosperity for the euro area. The ECB was guided and controlled by a coherent European Macroeconomic Constitution. However, this model has failed during recurring crises, and the ECB has started to act as the euro area fire brigade. Consequently, it is pushing the boundaries of monetary policy, and with that challenging the accountability mechanisms and fundamentally also the democratic legitimacy of the EMU. The book sheds light on this complex economic-constitutional setting with a view on the future. The imbalance between various new operations and a single price stability objective is difficult to remedy. New objectives of financial stability, economic adjustment and environmental sustainability can cause fundamental ruptures between the ECB's formal role and its actions, and they also dangerously overburden monetary policy moving forward with substantial risks.

Featuring a comprehensive analytical collection of interdisciplinary research on regulatory authorities, this innovative Handbook combines contributions from leading scholars and regulatory practitioners to present the fundamental theoretical concepts, empirical achievements and challenges in the contemporary study of regulatory authorities.

Economics and political economy lack the analytical tools to explain the differing impact of the recent international financial crisis that erupted in 2007 on developed economies. The principal contribution of this edited volume is to offer a 'market-based banking' framework which transcends the dominant dichotomous understanding of financial systems in terms of credit-based and capital-based. It demonstrates why this dichotomy is obsolete through an appreciation of the activities of banks. Further, it employs 'market-based banking' to overcome the inability of existing typologies to explain financial system change. 'Market-based banking' provides a framework that is more reflective of banking in modern financial systems, and one that provides a more successful explanation of the differential impact of the recent financial crisis. The comparative and single-country chapters in this volume compare the extent of 'market-based banking' across eleven countries, including all of the G7 economies. The chapters also consider the impact of the financial crisis in terms of necessary government support and lending to non-financial companies. The edited volume includes work by authors who are widely respected experts in national political economies, finance, financial regulation, banking, central banking, and monetary policy. This volume is one of the first book-length comparative studies of the financial crisis and its impact and one of the few recent comparative studies of national banking / financial systems in any discipline.

Since the start of the Global Financial Crisis in 2008, research on central banking has gained momentum due to unusual levels of central bank activism and unconventional monetary policy measures in many countries. While these policies drew significant attention to advanced economy central banks, there has been much less academic focus on central banking in emerging economies. This book extends the research on the political economy of central banking by focusing on the emerging economies in Asia, Africa, Latin America, and the European periphery. Central banks are at the heart of economic policymaking, and their decisions have a significant impact on the social and economic well-being of citizens. Adopting an interdisciplinary political economy perspective, the contributions in this book explore the reciprocal relations between politics, economics, and central banks, and how the global and domestic political economy contexts influence central bank practices. The chapters employ diverse theoretical perspectives such as institutional and organizational theory, developmental state resource dependency, and gender studies, drawing on disciplines ranging from politics, international relations, public policy, management, finance, and sociology. This book will appeal to academics and students of central banking, political economy, and emerging economies, as well as professionals and policymakers engaged with central banks, monetary policy, and economic development.

What is the form of government of the European Union (EU)? And how is the institutional governance of the Eurozone evolving? These questions have become pressing during the last few years. On the one hand, the Euro-crisis and the legal and institutional responses to it have had major implications on the constitutional architecture of the EU and the Eurozone. On the other hand, the May 2014 elections for the European Parliament and the ensuing struggle to form the European Commission have brought to the fore new tensions in the EU political system. The purpose of this book, which brings together the contributions of EU lawyers, comparative constitutional lawyers and political scientists, from all over Europe and the United States, is to offer a new look at the form of government of the EU and the Eurozone and consider its potential for future development. While offering a plurality of perspectives on the form of government of the EU and the Eurozone, this book emphasises how the Euro-crisis represents a watershed in the process of European integration, makes the case for a more legitimate and effective form of government for the EU and the Eurozone, and identifies possible windows of opportunity for future treaty reforms. The volume will provide food for thought for scholars, policy-makers and the public at large as they continue debating the most apt form of government for the EU and the Eurozone.

Effective governance is vital for all nations and can be made easier with advanced technology and communication. Through various collaborative efforts and processes, developing nations can enhance their economies with multi-level governance. Multi-Level Governance in Developing Economies is a collection of innovative research on the applications and theories of multi-level governance in the developing world. It illustrates the practical side of multi-level governance by emphasizing special policies such as immigration, innovation, climate, local government, and construction. While highlighting topics including Europeanization, politics of the developing world, and immigration policies, this book is ideally designed for academicians, policymakers, government officials, and individuals seeking current research on the usage and impact of multi-level governance in emerging economies.

The COVID-19 health crisis came as a tremendous shock to the world, and to the EU more particularly, only a few years after the Eurozone crisis. The pandemic exacerbated the old structural differences in the economic models between the South and the North of Europe. However, this time, the response of the EU was of a completely different nature: an impressive array of fiscal and monetary policy instruments was mobilized to counteract the shock of the pandemic and to restore confidence. Is there reason to be optimistic in these times of uncertainty? This volume explores possible answers to this question, bringing together several renowned European intellectuals and experts from the fields of economics, law, and public policy to offer their thoughts. The book will stimulate discussion on the quality of institutions and growth sustainability, and contains ideas on the future of Europe and the reorganization of European economic governance. It analyzes the basic fiscal and monetary policy tools used by the EU to tackle the Eurozone and COVID-19 pandemic crises. Several aspects of the EU Banking Union and possible structural reforms of the banking sector are also discussed, as is the role of Credit Rating Agencies as tools of economic prediction.

This paper discusses key legal issues in the design of Board Oversight in central banks. Central banks are complex and sophisticated organizations that are challenging to manage. While most economic literature focuses on decision-making in the context of monetary policy formulation, this paper focuses on the Board oversight of central banks—a central feature of sound governance. This form of oversight is the decision-making responsibility through which an internal body of the central bank—the Oversight Board—ensures that the central bank is well-managed. First, the paper will contextualize the role of Board oversight into the broader legal structure for central bank governance by considering this form of oversight as one of the core decision-making responsibilities of central banks. Secondly, the paper will focus on a number of important legal design issues for Board Oversight, by contrasting the current practices of the IMF membership’s 174 central banks with staff’s advisory practice developed over the past 50 years.