Conclusion: Industry and Regime

Abstract

The task of this concluding chapter is to draw out the theoretical significance of the conclusions of the more empirically oriented work in Chapters 3 and 4. These chapters established that the strength of interstate regimes is associated with an intensification of atomistic competition in international banking and securities markets. The related proposition, that an absence or decay of private regimes is associated with the strengthening of interstate regimes, was also supported by more qualitative analysis of the social institutions involved in the two industries. After a brief reiteration of the theoretical arguments developed in Chapter 2 the present chapter will further address a key issue regarding the link between industry and regime: is the relationship described by Chapters 3 and 4 a causal one?