ABSTRACT
The main argument in this book is that distributional relations play a fundamental role in shaping the trajectories of capital account reforms in emerging economies. In particular, a high degree of distributional conflict makes it much more likely that a country embraces international capital mobility in a comprehensive manner or in a way that prioritizes portfolio and debt flows. The comparative-historical analysis in this book illustrates that institutional erosion through distributional struggles is likely to be much more severe in contexts where economic growth is anemic. In such a context, international capital mobility becomes a much more viable option for policy reform and institutional change, simply because capital inflows and integration with global finance offer an easy way to enlarge the domestic economic pie. The comparative-historical examination in this book reveals causal patterns that are difficult to pinpoint through cross-country quantitative and individual case studies. The book concludes with a discussion of how a theory of institutional change that pays attention to distributional relations can illuminate inquiries on the origins and persistence of neoliberalism.
