Guest Editors

Alvaro Mendez, London School of Economics and Political Science

Karin Costa Vazquez, O.P. Jindal Global University

Aims and Scope

Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) play a vital role in financing infrastructure and advancing sustainable development in the Global South. Historically, research has focused on Bretton Woods institutions such as the World Bank, and prominent regional MDBs such as the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the African Development Bank (AfDB), the Asian Development Bank (ADB), and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). Their extensive reach, strong influence on global development, and strategic geopolitical importance have made them subjects of interest for decades (Humphrey, 2019). In recent times, a growing interest has arisen regarding the inner workings of non-Bretton Woods MDBs driven by emerging economies in the Global South, challenging the North-South imaginary on international development as a Western, postcolonial project characterized by a moral geography of charity and its fit in the world today (Horner, 2020).

MDBs such as the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), the New Development Bank (NDB), the Development Bank of Latin America (CAF) and or the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) have been spearheading this transformation through South-South cooperation by empowering borrowing countries with increased agency and sense of ownership. These MDBs are also refocusing the global debate to the importance of combining aid, trade, and investment under financially and environmentally sustainable frameworks and multilateral arrangements to catalyze structural transformation. This emerging paradigm, coined by scholars as New Development Assistance (NDA) (Jing, Mendez, & Zheng, 2020) and New Asian Development Finance (Vazquez and Zheng, 2021), has been increasingly viewed by experts, policymakers, and civil society as a means to address the shortcomings in governance, infrastructure, and financing that Bretton Woods institutions have not fully addressed.

The aim of this special issue is to improve our understanding of the new development finance provided by Southern-led development banks. While there has been considerable scholarly research on the AIIB and NDB, smaller regional institutions in Asia, Africa, and Latin America and how they interact with larger Southern-led development banks have received less attention. Its contribution to greater and more qualified participation of developing countries in the global economy and the global economic governance, however, is less certain. This issue aims to address this gap by bringing together innovative and interdisciplinary research that sheds light on the added value that these banks bring to the global financial architecture.

Themes

Submissions may explore suggested themes/questions, but are not restricted to them. We seek papers aligned with the journal's theme, welcoming innovation and interdisciplinary approaches. Contributions extending beyond suggested areas while remaining thematically relevant are particularly encouraged. We welcome submissions from researchers and practitioners from diverse and underrepresented backgrounds.

• Achieving the SDGs: How do Southern-led MDBs contribute to accelerate and scale up SDGs implementation at the country, regional and global levels? How do they use innovative strategies, partnerships, and knowledge to catalyze structural transformation?

• How Southern-led institutions are actively facilitating and establishing novel spaces and platforms to amplify Southern innovations within global governance, resulting in tangible changes to the system.

• South-South Cooperation: How do Southern-led MDBs foster cooperation and empower borrowing countries? How do they empower borrowing countries to participate in / influence the global economy and global economic governance?

• Infrastructure financing: How do Southern-led MDBs innovate in infrastructure financing?

• Climate Change Resilience: How do Southern-led MDBs support climate change resilience and adaptation strategies?

• Addressing Poverty and Inequality: How do Southern-led MDBs tackle economic and social inequalities within and across their member countries? How do they engage with civil society for inclusive development?

• Promoting Gender Equality: How do Southern-led MDBs integrate gender equality into their development strategies, projects, policy formulation and staff composition?

• How do Southern-led MDBs in Asia, Africa, and Latin America differ in terms of their approaches, priorities, and strategies when it comes to addressing the unique development challenges in their respective regions?

Working plan

Submission

Please submit an abstract of 1-2 pages in English to gppg@fudan.edu.cn by 1 October 2023. Please include in the submission the research question(s), theoretical framework and/or empirical exploration, methodological approach, and preliminary findings.

Decisions will be made in two weeks after the submission of the abstract. Invited authors shall submit their full papers to gppg@fudan.edu.cn by 1 March 2024.

Workshop

A workshop, with a hybrid form (virtual and in-person), contingent on global pandemic situations, will be organized by Fudan University in April 2024 for authors to present their papers.  

The workshop will be hosted by Institute for Global Public Policy at Fudan University, LSE-Fudan Research Centre for Global Public Policy, LSE Global South Unit, and the Center for African, Latin America and Caribbean Studies (CALACS) at O.P. Jindal Global University.

Publication

Authors will be given one month to revise their papers according to comments from the workshop and the guest editors. They are then expected to submit papers directly to the online submission system of Global Public Policy and Governance by 1 June 2024. All papers will go through a peer review process organized by the guest editors. If accepted, the papers will be made available online first before they are published in print.

The format of research papers should comply with the style of GPPG (i.e., the APA reference style) and a word limit of 10,000 words. Details are available in this link.

Reviewers should follow Springer Nature’s and the journal’s more detailed Peer-Review Policy.

Important Dates

• Abstract submission: 1 October 2023

• Full paper submission: 1 March 2024

• Workshop: April 2024

• Revised paper submission to the EM system of GPPG: 1 June 2024

• Expected online publication: September 2024

• Expected hard-copy publication: October 2024

Further Information

For questions regarding this special issue, please contact the guest editors, Dr. Alvaro Mendez (a.mendez@lse.ac.uk) or Karin Costa Vazquez (kvazquez@jgu.edu.in). 

Guest Editors

Professor Alvaro Mendez

Prof. Alvaro Mendez is the Director of the Global South Unit at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), as well as a Senior Associate Fellow at LSE IDEAS and an Associate Fellow at the Geneva Centre for Security Policy. He also teaches International Relations at both the LSE and Sciences-Po Paris, and is a Foreign Expert and Adjunct Professor at Fudan University in Shanghai, where he teaches a course on China and International Development. Prof. Mendez has published articles in prestigious journals such as Geopolitics, Global Policy, Asia Business and Management, Sustainability, Journal of Business Research, The China Journal, Asia Pacific Business Review, Finance Research Letters, and Foreign Policy Analysis. Additionally, he has authored numerous books, including his latest work (co-authored with Chris Alden) titled China and Latin America Development, Agency and Geopolitics, which was published by Bloomsbury in January 2023.

Karin Costa Vazquez

Professor Karin Costa Vazquez is the Director of the Center for African, Latin American and Caribbean Studies at O.P. Jindal Global University, scholar at Fudan University and Non-Resident Senior Fellow at the Center for China and Globalization. She has advised UN entities and development finance institutions worldwide and led initiatives like the 2022-2025 Strategic Framework of the UN Office for South-South Cooperation and the ABDE 2030 Plan to catalyse US$ 380 billion in investments by 34 development finance institutions for the implementation of the SDGs. Her research lies in the intersection between international cooperation and financing for sustainable development, with a focus on Brazil, China, India, and their new multilateral development banks. Her latest publications include the articles New Asian Development Finance (IDS Bulletin), Brazil and BRICS multilateralism à la carte: from bilateralism to community interest (Global Policy), and Up or out: how China’s decarbonization will redefine trade, investments, and external relations (Turin University).