Call for Paper No. 24
Call for Paper No. 24
Main topic: Financial Systems and the Global Economy: Between Crises and Risks
Coordinators: Po Chun Lee (IAEN) and Samba DIOP (Université de Picardie Jules Verne)
The global economy and financial systems are undergoing rapid transformations, characterized by technological innovation and new sources of systemic vulnerability. The development of central bank digital currencies illustrates this duality: China’s digital yuan (e-CNY) surpassed 7 trillion in transaction volume in 2024 (The State Council, 2024), while the Bahamian Sand Dollar continues to show low levels of adoption (Central Bank of The Bahamas, 2023). At the same time, major central banks warn about risks to bank solvency in a context of high interest rates (BIS, 2024; De Gregorio, 2021).
In Latin America and the Caribbean, these processes take on a particular expression, shaped by structural vulnerabilities, dependence on external financial flows, and a primary-export insertion pattern that constrains economic policy (CEPAL, 2023a). The region faces imported inflationary pressures, more expensive external financing, high exchange-rate volatility, and fiscal deterioration (Banco Mundial, 2024). In several countries, public debt exceeds 70% of GDP, generating a structural fiscal constraint (CEPAL, 2023b).
In the fiscal sphere, the region is experiencing a progressive narrowing of the space for public policy. Low tax-collection capacity, associated with high levels of informality and tax evasion, limits public revenues (OCDE et al., 2023). This is compounded by rigid current expenditure and rising interest payments, which increase fiscal vulnerability (IMF, 2024). Fiscal rules and tax reforms have become central—but highly contested—policy instruments (CEPAL, 2023b).
From a monetary and financial perspective, Latin America remains highly exposed to external transmission channels. The tightening of monetary policy in advanced economies has generated capital outflows, currency depreciations, and more expensive credit (BIS, 2024; IMF, 2024). Central banks face the complex task of balancing inflation control, financial stability, and productive activity (BID, 2023).
In the field of digital and monetary transformation, the region’s progress is heterogeneous. Significant gaps persist in access to connectivity, digital financial literacy, and data protection (Banco Mundial, 2022; Cepal, 2023c). The absence of fully operational central bank digital currencies and weak regulation of crypto-assets create new risks for monetary sovereignty and financial stability (BIS, 2023; Ugarteche, 2014).
In geopolitical terms, Latin America occupies an intermediate position in the dispute over the reordering of international economic power. The rivalry between the United States and China opens opportunities for diversification but also deepens risks of technological dependency and renewed reprimarization (CEPAL, 2023a; Farrell & Newman, 2019). The region’s sensitivity to commodity price fluctuations reinforces its exposure to boom-and-bust cycles (Banco Mundial, 2024; Cohen, 2019).
Finally, in the realm of regional integration and financial cooperation, institutional limitations persist. Existing instruments are fragmented, limited in scope, and characterized by weak macroeconomic coordination (CEPAL, 2022; BID, 2023; Guzmán & Stiglitz, 2021). The absence of a robust regional financial architecture restricts the collective capacity to respond to crises (Porcile, 2020; Ocampo, 2017). Taken together, these dimensions shape a scenario marked by high external vulnerability, incomplete digital transition, and constrained fiscal and monetary room for maneuver.
This call for papers by Estado & comunes seeks to foster research that critically analyzes these processes, combining empirical evidence and proposals to strengthen macroeconomic resilience, strategic autonomy, and inclusive development in the region. We welcome academic contributions that examine Latin America’s insertion into the new international economic and financial architecture, with an emphasis on the challenges of macroeconomic governance, fiscal sustainability, digital transformation of money, regional integration, economic security, and state capacity-building to confront systemic shocks.
Thematic areas
Articles addressing, among others, the following thematic areas will be prioritized:
Economic geopolitics, financial governance, and the international monetary architecture: Analyses of the global monetary and financial system in contexts of geoeconomic rivalry and fragmentation. This includes studies on the role of the G20, BRICS, IMF, World Bank, and OECD in setting global rules, as well as on financial sanctions, implications for monetary sovereignty, exchange-rate policy, reserve management, and states’ strategies for international insertion.
International trade, global value chains, and industrial policy: Studies on the regionalization of trade (friend-shoring, near-shoring), non-tariff barriers, trade disputes, strategic subsidies, and new industrial policies geared toward digitalization and the green transition. Priority will be given to work examining changes in employment, trade balances, productive diversification, and competitiveness.
Climate finance, energy transition, and macroeconomic sustainability: Research on the relationship between climate change, finance, and macroeconomic stability (green bonds, debt-for-nature swaps, financing for adaptation and mitigation, climate risks, and the role of multilateral banks in the energy transition). We particularly value studies that address debt sustainability, energy subsidies, the balance of payments, and the design of environmentally responsible fiscal rules.
Sovereign debt, restructuring, and the international financial legal architecture: Articles on debt crises, sovereign restructuring mechanisms, and tensions among public, private, and multilateral creditors. This includes analyses of collective action clauses, vulture funds, foreign-currency debt, financial conditionalities, and asymmetries in the international legal architecture. Priority will be given to work examining the impact of debt on fiscal space, public investment, social policy, and long-term macroeconomic stability.
Global inflation, monetary policy, and transmission of financial shocks: Analyses of global inflation dynamics, taxation, and contagion effects on peripheral countries. This includes the study of imported inflation; energy and food price shocks; interest-rate volatility; capital flows; and the coordination—or lack thereof—of monetary policies. A particular emphasis is expected on the distributive impacts of inflation, credit, public indebtedness, and financial stability.
Economic development, global inequality, and the political economy of the welfare state: Studies on structural inequalities in the economic system, the middle-income trap, tax evasion and avoidance, and the implementation of global minimum taxes. This also includes analyses of remittances, economic migration, and the renewed role of the state in financing development and social protection. Priority will be given to research connecting these processes with redistributive policies, tax justice, and social cohesion.
Artificial intelligence, the digital economy, and technological sovereignty: Examinations of the impact of the digital revolution, artificial intelligence, and the concentration of technology platforms on employment, productivity, and states’ economic sovereignty. This includes research on taxation of the digital economy, platform regulation, data protection, technological dependency, digital divides, and global governance of critical infrastructures.
Economic security, financial crime, and transnational illicit flows: Research on macroeconomic stability, financial security, and institutional weakness. This includes work on money laundering, international tax evasion, tax havens, financing of illicit economies, state capture, and financial cooperation in the prevention of economic crime. Priority will be given to studies analyzing how these phenomena affect tax collection, banking stability, institutional trust, and the design of financial-control policies.
Economic warfare, international sanctions, and external shocks: Work on the use of trade, finance, and technology as instruments of international conflict (economic sanctions, technological blockades, trade wars, armed conflicts, and their effects on investment flows, international trade, prices, and reserves). We particularly welcome contributions examining strategies of economic neutrality, financial diplomacy, and macroeconomic resilience in the face of severe external shocks.
Regional integration, new financial regionalisms, and South–South cooperation: Contributions on emerging forms of financial regionalism (payment systems, development banks, common currencies, and monetary-compensation mechanisms). Priority will be given to research that analyzes the potential of these schemes to reduce dependence on the US dollar, strengthen external resilience, and expand the policy space of national governments.
