ABSTRACT
The regional development banks (RDBs) are a diverse set of global institutions, varying in membership, size and function. The RDBs engage in development lending and provide policy advice for their members. Generally speaking, the RDBs share a common ideational grounding in neo-liberal economic theory regarding the ‘correct’ and ‘legitimate’ development policies that governments should pursue. However, the RDBs are less doctrinaire than the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) in the application of neo-liberal ideas. RDBs also are informed by a basic assumption in modern economic growth theory that a major impediment to economic growth in developing economies is the lack of capital. One goal, then, of RDBs is to facilitate the flow of capital into developing economies with particular attention on financing projects that may not be viable if only private sector options were available. Most RDBs are creatures of the Cold War and thus have experienced the vacillations of history as both material and ideational power relations have evolved over the past 50 years.
