Review of International Political Economy

ECRs in IPE, who are applying to the Political Economy Beyond Boundaries (PEBB) section of the @europeanisa.bsky.social for the PEC in Lisbon, September 1-4, 2026, may also be considered for the two RIPE-sponsored panels. See the call below for details.

De/stabilizing capitalism in the Middle East? Infrastructure, uneven development and the humanitarian-development nexus in Jordan and Lebanon Responding to the Syrian refugee influx into Jordan and Lebanon, Western donors have shifted from an emergency response to a humanitarian-development nexus (HDN) that incorporates development donor...

De/stabilizing capitalism in the Middle East? Infrastructure, uneven development and the humanitarian-development nexus in Jordan and Lebanon, by Lama Tawakkol

Power from below: rethinking bargaining power in global value chains Subordinate inclusion is integral to global value chains (GVCs), underpinning broader dynamics of uneven development. This paper presents a theoretically grounded conceptual framework to examine ho...

Power from below: rethinking bargaining power in global value chains, by Caroline Hambloch, Claudia Coral, Guido Maschhaupt & Dagmar Mithöfer

We’re delighted to welcome Johannes Petry (Goethe University Frankfurt) as the *fourth* new editor at RIPE. @johannespetry.bsky.social studies financial globalisation—China’s financial system, financial infrastructures, BRICS/Asian finance, and the geopolitics of global finance. johannespetry.com

The rise and fall of economic coalitions in the Belt and Road Initiative: case study of a flagship project in Kenya China has financed and constructed infrastructure projects in over 100 countries, profoundly impacting host countries’ economic growth and political dynamics. Contrary to the initial warm embrace f...

The rise and fall of economic coalitions in the Belt and Road Initiative: case study of a flagship project in Kenya, by Keren Zhu

Ownership infinity pools: finding control strategies in multinational enterprises Understanding the role of the firm and the corporation is an ongoing concern for political economy scholars. Following the increasing influence of the Multinational Enterprise (MNEs) and its develo...

Ownership infinity pools: finding control strategies in multinational enterprises, by David P. Castro & Leonard Seabrooke

RIPE Editorial Board welcomes Ali Bhagat (Simon Fraser University) as our third new editor, starting January 2026.In his work, @alibhagat.bsky.social bridges critical global political economy, economic geography, and public policy, with a focus on migration, development, race, labour, and sexuality.

Banking against sustainable finance: the effect of the European central bank on green bonds This paper highlights the unintended consequences of central bank practices on climate finance performance. By providing information on central banks’ willingness to buy individual bonds from inves...

Banking against sustainable finance: the effect of the European central bank on green bonds, by Julio Galindo-Gutiérrez

RIPE has a great new team! Allow us to introduce Ida Bastiaens (Fordham University), who joined RIPE as an editor on January 1, 2026. Ida's research examines the politics of economic integration and public preferences for it—alongside its consequences for fiscal capacity and social welfare.

RIPE is delighted to welcome @mbabic.bsky.social (University of Amsterdam) as a new editor at RIPE from January 2026. His work explores the shift from neoliberal to post-neoliberal order—especially changing state/corporate power and how to decarbonise large state-owned firms. milanbabic.com

Financializing political rationality: social impact bonds and everyday financialization in the Australian welfare state This article explores Australian social impact bonds (SIBs) as a case study of the everyday life of state financialization and considers their implications for the relationship between financializa...

Financializing political rationality: social impact bonds and everyday financialization in the Australian welfare state, by Jacob Bloom

Endogenizing the limits of ideas: a ‘how-to’ guide to understanding ignorance and failure in ideational political economy This commentary essay makes the case for a different way of conceptualizing the role of ideas in political economy by arguing for the need to endogenize the limits of ideas—recognizing the key role...

Endogenizing the limits of ideas: a ‘how-to’ guide to understanding ignorance and failure in ideational political economy, by @jacquelinebest.bsky.social

From colonial economics to structural adjustment: race, neoliberal ideology, and pernicious financial inclusion This paper brings together scholarship on the history of neoliberal thought with the emerging ‘raced finance’ research agenda. The paper makes a methodological and an empirical contribution. First,...

From colonial economics to structural adjustment: race, neoliberal ideology, and pernicious financial inclusion, by Lars Cornelissen

Overlap and fragmentation in the global governance complex of sustainable finance Global governance initiatives addressing sustainable finance, whether for advancing climate risk disclosure or defining green bond standards, have proliferated for over 20 years. Emblematic of a la...

Overlap and fragmentation in the global governance complex of sustainable finance, by Stefan Renckens & Christian Elliott

RIPE enters 2026 with an editorial transition. Huge thanks to outgoing team @juanitamarieelias.bsky.social, @skostem.bsky.social, Kevin Young & Hongying Wang! In the next few days, we’ll introduce new editors: @johannespetry.bsky.social, @alibhagat.bsky.social, Ida Bastiaens & @mbabic.bsky.social.

We will have more data on our published articles and authors in the RIPE’s annual Diversity Report, which should be published in January.

RIPE acceptance rate in 2025 was half that from 2019/2020 (10.3 vs 24 percent). Most rejections are at the initial screening, with many manuscripts unfit for RIPE or AI generated. Our regular flow is not yet adversely affected. If the trend continues it will strain lead editors in particular.

Partners and rivals? The AIIB’s cooperation with preexisting multilateral development banks The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) is often seen as a challenger to established Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) like the World Bank (WB) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB), whi...

Partners and rivals? The AIIB’s cooperation with preexisting multilateral development banks, by Benjamin Daßler, Angelo Gerber-Helm & @mirkoheinzel.bsky.social

Thank you to our contributors and particularly to our reviewers, without whom this journal could not operate. As we enter 2026, please keep in mind that we are juggling a considerably higher number of manuscripts than usual with a finite reviewer pool.

RIPE editors feel privileged to receive such high-quality submissions across the spectrum of academic rank and from a diversity of authorship, not only in terms of demographics and location but also in terms of theoretical and methodological approaches.

Is the increase in submissions driven by AI? Partially.The lead editors are increasingly desk-rejecting manuscripts that have tell-tale signs of AI generation (most notably phantom references and fabricated quotations). But the jump in submissions is also the result of a growing IPE community.

RIPE had a banner year in 2025. Prior to this year, submissions to the journal were consistently increasing by about 2-10% per year. In 2025, submissions jumped by nearly 50%. RIPE received 910 manuscripts compared to 618 in 2024 and 552 in 2023, a significant deviation from our long-term trend.

Play the scramble, avoid the backlash? Partisan dynamics in the negotiation of bilateral investment treaties Sparked by a proliferation of bilateral investment treaties (BITs) at the turn of the century, the modern international investment regime now faces a backlash from dissatisfied states. We examine t...

Play the scramble, avoid the backlash? Partisan dynamics in the negotiation of bilateral investment treaties, by Andrew C. McWard & @yumipark.bsky.social

Play the scramble, avoid the backlash? Partisan dynamics in the negotiation of bilateral investment treaties Sparked by a proliferation of bilateral investment treaties (BITs) at the turn of the century, the modern international investment regime now faces a backlash from dissatisfied states. We examine t...

Play the scramble, avoid the backlash? Partisan dynamics in the negotiation of bilateral investment treaties, by Andrew C McWard & Yumi Park

A network model of creditor coordination This paper presents a network model of creditor coordination. We argue that creditors are embedded in informal networks that shape their willingness to provide loans or restructure debt. Rather tha...

A network model of creditor coordination, by Paasha Mahdavi, Christina J. Schneider & Jennifer L. Tobin

Digital financialization through demonetization: disruption, fintech adoption and everyday endurance in Nigeria On 26 October 2022, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) announced a demonetization exercise aimed at curbing corruption and advancing digital financial inclusion. While the policy was framed as a mod...

Digital financialization through demonetization: disruption, fintech adoption and everyday endurance in Nigeria, by Shuaib Jalal-Eddeen

Gendering Pan-African trade: exploring the transformational potential of the African continental free trade agreement International trade agreements are increasingly concerned with gender inequality and the gendered structures and impacts of trade. This ‘gendering’ of trade reflects the emergence of new trade poli...

Gendering Pan-African trade: exploring the transformational potential of the African continental free trade agreement, by
Sophia Price

Toward regenerative capitalism? The remaking of corporate sustainability in times of crises Amid intensifying ecological and social crises, global business elites increasingly advocate a shift toward ‘regenerative capitalism’, proposing businesses as agents of transformative, net positive...

Toward regenerative capitalism? The remaking of corporate sustainability in times of crises, by Philip Schleifer

The role of aid bureaucracy heads: evidence from the allocation of Korean aid Research on foreign aid often relies on aggregated national allocations, yet this perspective overlooks the role of bureaucrats who determine where and how aid flows. Using a novel dataset on Korea...

The role of aid bureaucracy heads: evidence from the allocation of Korean aid by Esol Cho

Crypto currencies and development mode in flux: unfolding bitcoin mining in Georgia Cheap energy, absence of regulations on mining, low taxes, free industrial zones made Georgia an attractive place for Bitcoin mining and home to such big companies as Bitfury and Binance. This pape...

Crypto currencies and development mode in flux: unfolding bitcoin mining in Georgia, by Ia Eradze