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To link to full-text access for this article, visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2005.04.022 Byline: David Graham, Ngaire Woods Keywords: global; multinational corporations; environment; human rights; regulation; NGOs Abstract: Self-regulation by multinational corporations of social/environmental impacts has been advocated as a solution to the regulatory capacity problems faced by developing states. Market pressures can provide incentives for firms to implement codes and standards, and also rely on widely available information about corporate behavior. Voluntary schemes attempt to provide reliable, standardized reporting of information. But government action -- in the North and South -- remains vital to effective regulation, by setting social goals and upholding the freedom of civil society actors to organize and mobilize. International organizations and legal instruments may be able to assist developing country governments in fulfilling these roles. Author Affiliation: University of Oxford, UK Article History: Accepted 20 April 2005

Concerns about order and justice in the globalizing world economy have often been addressed to international organizations. Protesters gather in large numbers around meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) [...]

Over the past two decades the functions of international economic institutions have greatly expanded to include programmes and policies which affect a wider range of people, groups, and organisations than before. Where previously people could hold their national governments to account for such policies, they must now look to international institutions where the decisions are being made. But to whom are these institutions accountable and are they accountable to those whom they directly affect? This paper sets out to answer that question in respect of the IMF, the World Bank, and the WTO. After analysing the new intrusiveness of the WTO, the IMF, and the World Bank, we explore how the concept of accountability might best be applied to international economic institutions. The paper then outlines the specific ways in which the IMF, World Bank, and WTO have recently bolstered their accountability through enhanced transparency and monitoring. In conclusion, however, the paper argues that in spite of improvements in accountability, the international economic institutions have not gone far enough in reforming their governance structures. There is a remaining imbalance between what they do, and their legitimacy as perceived by those they affect.

Over the last decade, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank have embraced 'good governance' as a set of principles to guide their objectives in member countries. Both institutions now face pressures to apply some similar standards of transparency, accountability and participation to themselves. This paper examines the challenges this poses for the organizations, beyond the steps they have already undertaken to disseminate more information and to enhance their relations with nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). The paper argues that if 'good governance' is to be furthered within the IMF and the World Bank, then changes in their constitutional rules, their balancing of stakeholders' rights, their decision-making rules and practices, and their staffing and expertise need to be considered.