TY  - JOUR
AU  - Dominguez,Kathryn M.
TI  - The Role of International Organizations in the Bretton Woods System
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 3951
PY  - 1992
Y2  - January 1992
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w3951
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w3951.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Kathryn M.E. Dominguez
University of Michigan
Department of Economics and Ford School
Weill Hall
735 South State Street
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
Tel: 734-764-9498
Fax: 734-763-9181
E-Mail: kathrynd@umich.edu
M1  - published as Kathryn M.E. Dominguez. "The Role of International Organizations in the Bretton Woods System," in Michael D. Bordo and Barry Eichengreen, editors, "A Retrospective on the Bretton Woods System: Lessons for International Monetary Reform" University of Chicago Press (1993)

AB  - This paper examines the roles played by organizations in maintaining the Bretton Woods System. Theory indicates that even if countries understand that cooperation will lead them to a Pareto superior outcome, they need not cooperate unless they are convinced that other countries are also committed to doing so. In this context international organizations can facilitate cooperation by serving as commitment mechanisms. Cooperation in the Bretton Woods System involved the maintenance of stable exchange rates and unrestricted trade among member countries. The commitment mechanisms that the Bretton Woods Institutions provided member countries included: rules of cooperation, financial resources to enable them to play by the rules, and a centralized source of information on each others' commitment to the rules. Post-war history suggests that information monitoring and sharing has been a relatively effective commitment mechanism for international organizations.
ER  -