The OECD and the International Political Economy Since 1948

This book explores the history of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and its place within capitalist development. Since 1948, the OECD and its forerunner, the Organization for European Economic Cooperation (OEEC) worked on almost every subject of interest to national governments ranging from economic growth to education (PISA rankings), statistics, to the environment. With varying success the OEEC/OECD thus played a key role as a warden of the West and of capitalist development. However, it has remained one of the least understood international organizations. Bringing together a number of case studies by scholars from around the world, this first source-based volume on the history of the OEEC/OECD in global governance offers not only a new understanding of the Organization's key areas of activities, but also its multiple relations to member states, other international organizations, and private networks. The volume thus critically re-examines postwar international history, most importantly decolonization and the Cold War, through the prism of one international organization in its various contexts.-- Provided by publisher Acknowledgements 5 Contents 7 Contributors 10 Abbreviations 12 List of Figures 14 List of Tables 15 Introduction: Writing Histories of the OECD 16 A Historically Grounded Perspective on the OEEC/OECD 20 What Do We Know About the OEEC/OECD? A Short State of the Art 22 The Structure and Content of This Volume 25 From the Marshall Plan to Global Governance: Historical Transformations of the OEEC/OECD, 1948 to Present 38 Ideas, Peers, and Numbers: OECD Modes of Governance 39 Reconstruction, Liberalization, and Productivity: The OEEC and the Legacy of the Marshall Plan (1948–1961) 43 Planning, Development, and Cold War Competition: The “Temple of Growth” in Its First Decade (1961–1969) 49 Responding to Crises and Stabilizing Intra-capitalist Relations: The OECD During the “Long 1970s” (1969–1984) 52 From Warden of Globalization to “Sunset Organization?” The OECD and the End of the Cold War (1984–Present) 55 Conclusion 58 A Short Guide to Historical Archives, Online Resources, and Research Materials on the OEEC/OECD 74 Part I Being Part of the West 77 Western European Vs. All-European Cooperation? The OEEC, the European Recovery Program, and the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (ECE), 1947–1952 78 The UN and the ERP: From a Global to a Regional Framework 82 Institutional Dualism and Contested Division of Labor 85 From the End of the ERP to the Coal and Steel Community 89 Conclusion 93 A Socialist Developing Country in a Western Capitalist Club: Yugoslavia and the OEEC/OECD, 1955–1980 102 Yugoslavia’s Association with the OEEC, 1955–1957 104 Intensifying Relations with the OEEC, 1957–1961 107 Across Cold War Divides—Yugoslavia in the OECD, 1961–1980 110 Searching for Tangible Results—Yugoslavia in OECD Committees 114 Conclusion 116 Shall We or Shall We Not? The Japanese, Australian, and New Zealand Decisions to Apply for Membership in the OECD, 1960–1973 125 Access, Influence, Status, and Varying Degrees of Interest in Membership 126 A Rapid Move to Full Membership for Japan but a Slowly Growing, Ad Hoc, and Limited Association with the OECD for Australia and New Zealand: 1961–1966 130 From a Limited Association to Full Membership, 1966–1973 139 Conclusion 143 The Construction of a Western Voice: OECD and the First UNCTAD of 1964 149 The Way to the Conference 151 Knowledge as Legitimation and Threat 153 Emotional, Unrealistic Others and the White Man’s Rationality 155 The Necessity of a Western Voice 157 Defining the West 159 Conclusion 163 Part II Managing the Economy 171 From Post-war Reconstruction to Multi-level Neo-corporatism: The OEEC/OECD and Steel During the Cold War 172 Institutionalizing Work on Steel 175 Economic Reconstruction: Debating and Coordinating Investment 177 Policy Diversification: Fostering Research and Environmental Protection 180 Crisis Management: Mediating Trade Conflicts 185 Conclusion 189 A Crisis Manager for the International Monetary and Financial System? The Rise and Fall of the OECD Working Party 3, 1961–1980 196 The Organizational Features of the WP3: A Soft Core in a Hard Structure 198 Capital Flows and Balance of Payments: The Rise of the WP3 as a Planning Outfit, 1961–1971 203 Coping with the Floating Exchange Rate System: The Fall of the WP3, 1971–1980 207 Conclusion 212 Peer Pressure in Paris: Country Reviews at the OECD in the 1960s and 1970s 220 The Examination Process 222 The Politics of Peer Review 227 Resistance to EDRC Recommendations 228 Affirmative Uses of the OECD Surveys 230 Reviewing the Reviews 232 Conclusion 236 “Positive Adjustments”: The Emergence of Supply-Side Economics in the OECD and G7, 1970–1984 243 The 1970 OECD Report on Inflation: A First (and Failed) Attempt to Reorient Economic Priorities 245 The McCracken Report: A Compromise Between “Weak” and “Strong” Countries, 1973–1977 248 “Positive Adjustments” and “Concerted Action,” 1978–1979 250 The Limited Impact of Positive Adjustment Policies, 1979–1983 254 Epilogue: The Breakthrough of 1983–1984 259 Conclusion 261 Part III Coping with Socio-ecological Challenges 269 The Narrowing-Down of the OEEC/OECD Migration Functions, 1947–1986 270 Facilitating Migration in Western Europe in the Early Cold War, 1947 to Mid-1960s 271 Mitigating Restrictive National Migration Policies, Mid-1960s to 1987 278 Conclusion 286 Engineering the Free World: The Emergence of the OECD as an Actor in Education Policy, 1957–1972 293 A Scientific and Technical Elite for Progress 295 Human Capital for Development and Growth 298 The Right Kind of People for the Modern Society 303 Engineer of the West 310 Negotiating Environment: The Making of the OECD Environment Committee and the Polluter Pays Principle, 1968–1972 318 The Origins of Environmental Work at the OECD 321 The Creation of the OECD Environment Committee 324 The Sub-Committee of Economic Experts 328 Aftermath 334 Conclusions 336 Gendering Development: The OECD’s Development Assistance Committee, 1981–2000 342 Introduction 342 The DAC Within the OECD 343 Carving Out a Space for Gender, 1979–1989 345 The Expert Group in the “Golden Decade” 351 Conclusions 356 Index 364 Front Matter ....Pages i-xvii Introduction: Writing Histories of the OECD (Matthieu Leimgruber, Matthias Schmelzer)....Pages 1-22 From the Marshall Plan to Global Governance: Historical Transformations of the OEEC/OECD, 1948 to Present (Matthieu Leimgruber, Matthias Schmelzer)....Pages 23-61 Front Matter ....Pages 63-63 Western European Vs. All-European Cooperation? The OEEC, the European Recovery Program, and the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (ECE), 1947–1952 (Daniel Stinsky)....Pages 65-88 A Socialist Developing Country in a Western Capitalist Club: Yugoslavia and the OEEC/OECD, 1955–1980 (Andrej Marković, Ivan Obadić)....Pages 89-111 Shall We or Shall We Not? The Japanese, Australian, and New Zealand Decisions to Apply for Membership in the OECD, 1960–1973 (Peter Carroll)....Pages 113-136 The Construction of a Western Voice: OECD and the First UNCTAD of 1964 (Patricia Hongler)....Pages 137-158 Front Matter ....Pages 159-159 From Post-war Reconstruction to Multi-level Neo-corporatism: The OEEC/OECD and Steel During the Cold War (Wolfram Kaiser)....Pages 161-184 A Crisis Manager for the International Monetary and Financial System? The Rise and Fall of the OECD Working Party 3, 1961–1980 (Kazuhiko Yago)....Pages 185-208 Peer Pressure in Paris: Country Reviews at the OECD in the 1960s and 1970s (William Glenn Gray)....Pages 209-231 “Positive Adjustments”: The Emergence of Supply-Side Economics in the OECD and G7, 1970–1984 (Samuel Beroud)....Pages 233-258 Front Matter ....Pages 259-259 The Narrowing-Down of the OEEC/OECD Migration Functions, 1947–1986 (Emmanuel Comte, Simone Paoli)....Pages 261-283 Engineering the Free World: The Emergence of the OECD as an Actor in Education Policy, 1957–1972 (Regula Bürgi)....Pages 285-309 Negotiating Environment: The Making of the OECD Environment Committee and the Polluter Pays Principle, 1968–1972 (Iris Borowy)....Pages 311-334 Gendering Development: The OECD’s Development Assistance Committee, 1981–2000 (Rianne Mahon)....Pages 335-356 Back Matter ....Pages 357-363 Introduction: Writing Histories Of The Oecd / Matthieu Leimgruber And Matthias Schmelzer -- From The Marshall Plan To Global Governance: Historical Transformations Of The Oeec/oecd, 1948 To Present / Matthieu Leimgruber And Matthias Schmelzer -- A Short Guide To Historical Archives, Online Resources, And Research Materials On The Oeec/oecd -- Matthieu Leimgruber, Matthias Schmelzer, Editors. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Annotation This work explores the history of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and its place within capitalist development. Since 1948, the OECD and its forerunner, the Organization for European Economic Cooperation (OEEC) worked on almost every subject of interest to national governments ranging from economic growth to education (PISA rankings), statistics, to the environment