ABSTRACT
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (World Bank) are not only amongst the world’s most powerful international organisations in their own right, but they represent the most visible institutional “anchors” of the liberal post-Second World War order. With the formation of the World Bank, the capital construction of all multilateral financial institutions was established. However, whilst the organisational principle was the joint-stock model of private corporations, in the World Bank and similar institutions, public and not private sources provided capital subscriptions. Change has taken place over time in both institutions. The basis of United States’ influence derives from the origins of the World Bank and the fact that its Charter and guiding principles have a distinctly American character. Prior to the 1980s, Japan had not expressed much opposition to the United States in the World Bank. However, during the 1980s, Japan increasingly questioned the neoliberal economic model, particularly its appropriateness for Asia.
