Civilisational values and political economy beyond the West: the significance of Korean debates at the time of its economic opening

This paper analyses the prominence of civilisational values in Korean political economy debates in the late 19th and early 20th centuries concerning their country's dramatic opening to the world economy at the time. Korean supporters of economic opening saw this policy change as part of a wider embrace of Western civilisational values, while opponents argued that their country's longstanding economic autarchy upheld traditional Neo-Confucian civilisational values that had been imported from China. For international political economy (IPE) scholars interested in the historical relationship between civilisational values and political economy, the analysis shows how these values shaped understandings of international economic relations outside the West in quite distinctive ways. For IPE scholars interested in the diffusion of ideas, the analysis highlights different dynamics involved in the ‘localisation’ of ideas emanating from dominant powers. More generally, the study of this Korean history also contributes to the building of a more ‘inter-civilisational’ approach to IPE today.     

Do markets enhance convergence on international standards? The case of financial regulation

Why do countries that did not participate in the establishment of international standards converge on them in the absence of external coercion? The market‐based perspective asserts that market forces enhance cross‐national convergence on international standards. This paper challenges the market‐based perspective, focusing on compliance with the 1988 Basel Capital Accord in South Korea and Taiwan. First, it argues that adoption of the Basel Capital Accord by these countries was mainly driven by their regulatory authorities’ concern about the potential risk of foreign market closure to noncompliant banks. Second, it demonstrates that enforcement by the two countries’ regulatory authorities was crucial in ensuring compliance. These findings suggest that national regulatory authorities are still key actors in voluntary convergence on international standards.