The institutional roots of incremental ideational change. The IMF and capital controls after the global financial crisis

Although much scholarly attention has been devoted to examining the punctuated dynamics of ideational change, other dynamics exist. Ideational change may well occur incrementally in ordinary times or, as this study shows, can also materialize after a major shock, such as a financial and economic crisis. By examining the IMF’s new approach to capital controls in the aftermath of the global financial crisis, the paper demonstrates that the non-punctuated, non-paradigmatic nature of ideational change can be explained in light of the enabling (and not solely constraining) features of the institutional context in which actors operate. In contrast to cases where institutions prevent change until the point where the pressures for change become irresistible and lead to an explosion, here institutions act as safety valves that allow for the relief of pressures and therefore prevent the blast.