International Political Economy Theory Research Articles

The emergence of the new globalization: the approach of the evolutionary structural triptych

Purpose This study aims to analyze the emergence of a new structural configuration of globalization, with the 2008 global financial crisis serving as the first symptom of this change. By introducing the “Evolutionary Structural Triptych” (EST), this research seeks to understand the basic components of the new evolutionary trajectory of global capitalism post-2008. The study places emphasis on its interdependent and coevolving economic, political and technological dynamic facets. Design/methodology/approach This research introduces the EST framework, critically contrasting it with conventional understandings in international political economy (IPE) to provide a comprehensive and structured analysis of global developments after 2008. It traces the phases of global capitalism since Second World War, examines the central dynamic dimensions during each evolutionary phase, identifies the basic patterns and delves into the foundational elements of the emerging era of globalization. Findings The analysis reveals three key findings. First, the emerging restructured globalization indicates a need for a new balance in the contemporary world system; however, this balance cannot be achieved within the architecture of the old system. Second, the new era of globalization necessitates a re-equilibrated approach across different dimensions of geopolitical stability, economic development and innovation. This approach should emphasize sustainability, adaptability, resilience and inclusivity and lean toward responsible, open and organic innovation models for a revamped global structure. Third, while many current IPE theories tend to compartmentalize aspects of the new globalization, the EST advocates for a holistic perspective that integrates politics, economics and technology within the framework of global trends. This perspective bridges existing gaps and offers actionable insights for a dynamic and inclusive global future. Originality/value The paper presents the EST as a novel analytical instrument in the realm of the modern IPE. This tool uniquely places technology and innovation at the forefront, parallel to economic and political spheres, to comprehend the progression of globalization. In doing so, it highlights the intertwined relationship of these structural dimensions in shaping the future of the subject of the IPE.

Analysis of the Theories and Scope of International Political Economy

This study aims to describe the application of international political economy theories, and analyze the scope of international political economy and its influence on the country's economy. The method used in this study is a qualitative method and a descriptive approach which produces a study of a phenomenon and describes it based on literature studies by utilizing various references from previous research. In this study, international political economy theories reveal the weaknesses of other theories, so that we can see and differentiate the extent of the strengths of these theories in explaining global economic trends. This illustrates how International Political Economy discusses the problem of development and change in statehood and the national economy is a very basic resource for the state and nation.

Welfare regimes in Asia: convergent or divergent?

While existing scholarship predominantly focuses on the evolution of welfare regimes in advanced Western economies, there has been limited investigation into the trajectories of such systems in the Asia-Pacific region. This study presents a nuanced analysis of welfare regimes in 20 Asian countries, examining their transformation since the 2000s through principle component analysis and clustering algorithms. Contrary to the predictions of comparative political economy and international political economy theories, the findings reveal that these nations neither exhibit a strict divergence in welfare patterns nor converge strictly towards market-driven commodification. Instead, they adopt a balanced approach, harmonizing elements of both commodification and decommodification. This flexibility allows them to navigate complex challenges, including productivity competition, external shocks, and internal inequality. The study suggests that this balanced approach may act as a positive feedback mechanism, enabling these countries to adapt to both global economic pressures and domestic social imperatives.

Volatility of World Oil Prices Towards Venezuela's Economic Crisis

The drop in world oil prices, especially in 2014, caused Venezuela to experience a crisis. This is because oil is the country's main commodity and 95% of Venezuela's exports come from oil commodities. This study uses a qualitative descriptive research method. By using the theory of International Political Economy, International Organization, and Price Liberalization, the author tries to find out the causes of the decline in world oil prices and efforts to stabilize world oil prices in this case OPEC and market mechanisms. The results of this study indicate that Venezuela's financial inability to deal with falling oil prices due to inappropriate government policies such as the Venezuelan Social Program has caused Venezuela to experience an economic crisis. This then causes further impacts in the form of a humanitarian crisis, namely poverty, hunger, unemployment, crime, and an increase in the number of Venezuelan refugees. The series of crises resulted in Venezuela becoming one of the countries that failed to overcome domestic crises.

Evolutional Analysis of the Concept of Hegemony within the Perspective of International Political Economy Theories

Over the past few decades, the international political economy has attained itself particular independence within the wider discipline of international relations step by step. The endeavors to figure out the determiners of the radical changes taking place in the world economy since the early 1970s have placed several special theoretical concepts in the focus of interest which directly associates with the international political economy. The concept of hegemony is one of them. Today, hegemony is one of the most discussed subject matters. Antonio Gramsci was an Italian Marxist intellectual, theoretician and politician who developed the concept of hegemony in the Prison Notebooks. Gramsci's writings made incontrovertible contributions to the understanding of hegemony within the context of Marxist thought and philosophy. However, in the historical process, lots of views and theories have been put forward regarding the concept of hegemony. Thus, the application of the concept in international political economy is widely contested and necessitates disambiguation. From this point of view, we have tried to analyze how the concept was handled by theorists belonging to different schools of thought in the international political economy literature. In all these respects, this article takes its point of departure in the multiplicity of characterizations of the concept of hegemony and fastens on elucidating a certain strand of conceptualising hegemony more closely.

Regulation of platform market access by the United States and China: Neo‐mercantilism in digital services

AbstractChina and the United States host the world's largest digital platforms. Platforms are multisided markets that facilitate value‐creating exchanges among users, such as social media, e‐commerce, software QJ;application downloads, search, email, and cloud services. Internet access and the purely digital nature of many of the products and services make digital platforms potentially global in scope. This means that the rules and restrictions governing the flow of capital and information services among national markets strongly influence the economic and social potential of digital platforms. The paper conducts a sequential analysis of the rise of barriers to the United States–China trade in ICT and digital platform markets from 2000 to 2021. We find that China's thriving platform economy was relatively open, competitive and market‐driven in its early stages, and benefited from U.S. capital and the entry of U.S. firms. Since 2009, both countries have progressively restricted access to each other's domestic information services markets. In both cases, the primary stated rationale involved national security claims rather than trade policy concerns. Drawing on International Political Economy theory, we label the United States–China interaction pattern digital neo‐mercantilism. Digital neo‐mercantilism fuses the power and security of the national state with economic development in the digital economy. Policymakers represent information flows and digital technologies in domestic policy discourse as critical to the security and relative power of the state, and pursue various forms of industrial policy, data localization, trade protectionism, or exclusion of foreigners as a result. Both the United States and China are following this policy.

A theory of dialectical transnational historical materialism for China’s state capitalism and the China–US rivalry

A new cold war seems to be looming between China and the United States. The escalating China–US rivalry calls for a more dialectical theory of international political economy that captures conflict and disintegration as an integral part of capitalist globalisation. Kees van der Pijl’s and William Carroll’s critical realist approach towards the study of transnational corporations (TNCs) and transnational capitalist class (TCC) formation has incorporated the classical theory of uneven capitalist development and inter-imperialist rivalry into the scholarship of transnational historical materialism, which I argue is apt for explaining the China–US conflict: One is positioned as a Hobbesian contender and the other as the Lockean hegemon. To provide empirical grounding for my argument, I conduct a corporate network study to examine the interlocking directorates of 40 Chinese TNCs. In concordance with Carroll and colleagues’ studies, I find that the globalisation of Chinese TNCs and Chinese corporate elite has been modest and has not undermined or replaced the national base, nor does it signify a homogeneous TCC formation. My findings have also revealed an inextricable relationship between the Chinese TNCs and China’s party-state, or a Hobbesian character of state-organised capitalism.

Critical revaluation of the theories of international political economy: business diplomacy, a new dimension of study

Critical revaluation of the theories of international political economy: business diplomacy, a new dimension of study

US. Decoupling from China: Strategic logic, Trend and Measures

With the expansion of the technological revolution, technology is reshaping the international political landscape and reconstructing the national power structure with unprecedented speed and intensity. Technology has become a key variable affecting a country’s domestic and foreign affairs. Throughout the history of the rise of great powers, the first step to gaining hegemony is to cultivate and master the technological power leading the entire world. National strength based on technology has become the core content of the competitive strategy of great powers. The safety of the industrial policy and supply chain has become the new focus of national security. Therefore, the United States accelerates the process of decoupling from China, due to the rapid rise of China’s national power. Focusing on the history of American economic, this paper sorts out the policy evolution and theoretical logic of American decoupling from China by sorting out and comparing thinktank reports and policy documents, relying on the mercantilism theory of international political economy and the thoughts of American school. Through case analysis, the article draws lessons from the experience of science and technology competition among great powers to provide corresponding suggestions.

The US Dollar as the Global Currency Against Other Major Currencies During the Covid-19 Pandemic

The dominance of the US Dollar in the international economy began with the Bretton Woods system at the end of World War II in 1945. The currencies from other major economic powers such as the Eurozone’s Euro, the Japanese Yen, and the Chinese Yuan could be the best contenders against the US Dollar supremacy in the 21st century. The most popular cryptocurrency – Bitcoin, also eyes the position as a contender for the global currency. The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the global economy in 2020. As a result, the reliability and popularity of the US Dollar have been put into another stress test. To measure the status of the US Dollar against other major currencies, the theory of international political economy paired with graph analysis will be used to determine the strength of the US Dollar against other major currencies. This paper also looks at the value of the US Dollar against the cryptocurrency Bitcoin. It is assumed that graph movement is influenced by the market sentiment after receiving news and information that could affect the market.

Risk perceptions, anxiety and the future of international trade: a cross-national study of public trade preferences in Asia under COVID-19

ABSTRACT The COVID-19 pandemic has stalled the world’s economic activities and obscures the future of economic and trade. Many observers concern that the pandemic would result in growing protectionist attitudes in trade. This article provides one of the first systematic assessments to examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the public’s trade preferences. Using original cross-national surveys in six key and highly integrated economies in Asia – Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand – we found that most people support establishing closer trade relationships with foreign countries. However, most people prefer to buy more domestic products than foreign products. We test a behavioural model of trade preferences to understand the psychological impacts of COVID-19 pandemic. Consistent with prior studies, we found that a greater level of anxiety is negatively associated with support for trade and foreign product preference, after controlling for the effects of ethnocentrism, education and other socioeconomic factors. Job and health insecurities reduced public preference for buying more foreign products, but it stimulated more support for trade with other countries. This study contributes to the behavioural theory of international political economy and sheds light on the future of economic globalization.

Critical revaluation of the theories of international political economy: business diplomacy, a new dimension of study

Critical revaluation of the theories of international political economy: business diplomacy, a new dimension of study

Hambatan Ekspor Crude Palm Oil (CPO) Indonesia ke Uni Eropa pasca Kebijakan Renewable Energy Directive (RED)

Beside Malaysia, Indonesia is also one of the largest Crude Palm Oil (CPO) producer and exporter in the world. European Union is one of Indonesia’s trading partner and the biggest importer of CPO that used for the biofuel production, especially the biodiesel for transportation sector. But, in 2009, European Union released the Renewable Energy Directive (RED) that required all members to used renewable energy for every sector with the minimum requirement 20% for general sectors and 10% for transportation sectors. While this policy will make the European Union countries used the clean energy, RED became a new kind of NonTariff barriers for Indonesia’s CPO that become an important commodity from Indonesia. This paper will explain by the theory of International Political Economy (IPE) by focused into the Neo-Mercantilism to the analysis of Non-Tariff barriers that used by European Union for the CPO import into Indonesia. Besides that, the writer also used a National Interest concept to explain the importance of CPO for Indonesia and European Union Countries that agreed with the RED.

Global Instability of Gold Prices: View from the State-corporation Hegemonic Stability Theory

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is an explanation of reasons of gold prices instability after the establishment of the free gold market in 1968-1974. Subject of the analysis, i.e. the gold has been chosen because of its big strategic importance as a reserve metal for states and business over the world. Therefore, prices of the gold are connected with the global political-economic situation. Design/Methodology/Approach: The design is a new application of the theory of the state-corporation hegemonic stability, i.e. a new contemporary theory of international political economy. The research method is a describing political-economic analysis based on statistical data. Author analyses the gold prices in particular time periods and according to the state-corporation hegemonic stability theory. Findings: According to presented point of view, fiat money in circulation and a lack of fixed gold exchange standard in connection with a relatively stable global political-economic situation are the most important reasons of unstable and relatively low market prices of the gold in long time periods. However, disturbances of the world system cause fast and relatively big growths of gold prices in short time periods. Therefore, the global instability of gold prices is a phenomenon of the contemporary world. A destruction of the global system or world war in the future can cause a big increase of gold prices. Moreover, in the longer run, a further growth of prices of the gold will be probably unavoidable because of inflation in spite of periods of their drops. A fiat money system without any established gold parity adds monetary advantages for the contemporary global market economy, i.e. opportunities to increase money supplies in spite of a lack of gold reserves. Therefore, according the state-corporation hegemonic stability theory, state-powers and biggest transnational corporations are not interested to change the fiat money standard into the gold money standard. Practical Implications: The result can be considered for short-term and long-term investments in gold. Originality/Value: Original research based on the new theory.

Refining domestic politics theories of IPE: A societal approach to governmental preferences

Domestic politics theories of international political economy and the recent disruptions in international cooperation and trade apparently induced by domestic discontent have shown the crucial role domestic forces play in influencing governmental preferences. This article contributes to this theoretical school, first, by assessing seminal works on the ideational, material, and institutional dimensions of domestic politics, and second, by conceptualising the ‘societal approach’ to fill a major gap in domestic politics theorising. The societal approach asks under which conditions value-based societal ideas, domestic institutions, and material interests matter in shaping governmental preferences. When do ideas prevail over interests and vice versa? How do they interact with each other and with domestic institutions? The societal approach includes all three domestic variables as potential driving forces for governmental preferences and conceives them both as individual and as interacting forces. Most importantly, it complements domestic politics theories by proposing hypotheses on the conditions for the influence of each variable on governmental preferences. The article brings together previously conceived parts of the societal approach and considerably expands it.

Money, State, Hegemony: A Political Ontology of Money

ABSTRACTThis article develops a political understanding of the money-form, its relation to value, to society, and to the state. It argues that the value of assets is based on societal relations. These value relations are expressed in a general measure of value – money. Money serves as the equivalent for all asset values. This general equivalent is conceptualized as a master signifier. Based on Laclau’s political theory and theories of International Political Economy, the article argues that it is the master signifier, which not only defines the assets’ value relations, but also constitutes the assets by assigning value. It follows that the value of an asset can only be determined when it can be expressed in money, and that asset values can only be made comparable when they can be related to this general money-form. Furthermore, the transition from a specific object or credit to the money-form is theorized as a political process. Money ultimately represents a specific political relationship resulting from hegemonic struggles. To conceptualize money as a master signifier makes it possible to understand money not as a neutral measure of abstract value but as a general measure of value relations resulting from political processes and social struggles.

Money, State, Hegemony: A Political Ontology of Money

The paper develops a political understanding of the money-form, its relation to value, to society, and to the state. It argues that the value of assets is based on societal relations. These value relations are expressed in a general measure of value – money. Money serves as the equivalent for all asset values. This general equivalent is conceptualized as a master signifier. Based on Laclau's political theory and theories of International Political Economy, the paper argues that it is the master signifier, which not only defines the assets’ value relations, but also constitutes the assets by assigning value. It follows that the value of an asset can only be determined when it can be expressed in money, and that asset values can only be made comparable when they can be related to this general money-form. Furthermore, the transition from a specific object or credit to the money-form is theorized as a political process. Money ultimately represents a specific political relationship resulting from hegemonic struggles. To conceptualize money as a master signifier makes it possible to understand money not as a neutral measure of abstract value but as a general measure of value relations resulting from political processes and social struggles.

American structural power within International Financial Governance: from Bretton Woods to globalization

From the 1950s to the 1990s, the international monetary and financial system underwent deep changes with profound consequences, including the breakdown of Bretton Woods and the emergence of the globalized financial system. This paper aims to understand how American domestic political and economic challenges and responses in the 1970s reframed the superpowers’ foreign policy goals with respect to global financial governance. Drawing on the international political economy theory of structural power, this article analyzes U.S. domestic and foreign economic policy and examines international governance outcomes from a historical perspective. It argues that U.S. replies to domestic and international political and economic constraints prompted significant structural changes to the international monetary and financial system. The paper concludes that it is American domestic decision-making that determines the structure of the international financial system due to American structural power to underwrite and rewrite the norms and rules of the international financial governance.
 
 
 Recebido em: fevereiro/2018
 Aprovado em: abril/2018

Global government and civil society

In this article the frames of democratic global government, which determine the role of a global civil society as an alternative of market-driven globalization, are being analyzed. With this intention the main theories of international political economy – hegemonic stability theory, complex independence theory, new multilateralism, and also the comparison of the approaches to the potential possibilities of strengthening of the role of civil society in the system of global government are being examined.In order to create the necessary framework for democratic global governance in the twenty-first century, global and national civil societies must enter into more intensive synergies with individual national states and international organizations. Therefore, the article aims to define the role of global civil society in the project of global democratic governance as an alternative to market-driven globalization and to consider the main theories of international political economy by comparing their approaches to the potential opportunities of civil society in the global governance system.The article concludes that, based on the definition of opportunities for expanding the role of civil society in global governance, the theory of complex interdependence and the new multilateralism offer the most appropriate theoretical framework for examining the contribution of civil society in removing the tensions generated by globalization. One can talk about the expansion of the role of civil society in global governance, as the growing presence of social movements and non-governmental organizations on the global scene has become visible due to their activities in the areas of services, education, and protection of rights that contribute to the development of a global cooperative system.

The autocratic advantage: Internationalization of state-owned multinationals

We offer a theoretical extension and empirical analysis of home country autocracy as a key determinant for the internationalization of state-owned enterprises (SOEs). Building on international business and international political economy theory, we argue that the pursuit of a mercantilist domestic agenda by autocratic governments is influential upon the magnitude and direction of state-owned multinational enterprises’ (SOMNC) outward investment via acquisition. We conclude that autocratic home countries are ‘re-purposing’ SOEs to pursue international nationalist objectives – and that autocracies can do so more effectively and purposefully than democracies, by maintaining effective control over their SOMNCs.