In recent years, there has been a very steep increase in globalization which, among other things, has provoked an increased interest in global economic institutions. Such interest comes notably from the emerging countries. However, researchers who wish to understand better the workings and impact of these institutions are confronted with several problems. First, many of the present features of these international organizations are rooted in their history, but access to older contributions to the literature that shed light on the reasons behind the adoption of such structures is often very...