This book offers an independent and grounded investigation concerning the political economic role of Regional Development Banks through a study of the world's leading regional development bank, the Inter-American Development Bank.

Ernesto Vivares is Research Professor in Political Economy and Research Methods, and Head of the International Relations programme at FLACSO Ecuador. He holds a PhD in International Relations from the University of Sheffield, and his research focuses upon the political economy of South American regionalism, development and conflict.

1. The Political Economy of Regional Development Banks 2. Towards a New Political Economy View of the Inter-American Development Bank 3. The IDB's Role in South American Political Economy in the 1990s 4. Argentina in the Political Economy of the Americas 5. The IDB's Role in the Internationalisation of Argentine Electricity Public Utilities 6. The IDB's Development Role in the Decline of the Convertibility Regime 7. Conclusion