International Monetary Fund and the World Bank in Southern Europe

Offering an interdisciplinary analysis of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank’s (WB) interventions in Southern Europe during a transformative period in the 20th century and focusing on Southern Europe as its geographical frame, this volume brings together leading scholars from international history, economics and economic history to examine how these international financial institutions influenced, and were influenced by, economic and political developments in the region.

Written by specialists in the field, the volume presents national case studies in order to analyze the role of the IMF/WB in Southern Europe during key historical moments such as post-World War II reconstruction, the economic boom of the 1950s and 1960s, the crises of the 1970s, the collapse of the Bretton Woods system and the transitions from authoritarian regimes to democracy. It examines both the institutional evolution of the IMF and the WB, and the role of member states, thereby providing a more comprehensive understanding of how these organizations operated within a regional and international context.

The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank in Southern Europe: Policy, Economy, and Institutional Transformation, 1950s–1980s is for a broad academic audience, including scholars, researchers, and students in the fields of history, economics, international political economy, international relations and political science.

Lucia Coppolaro is Associate Professor of International History at the University of Padova. Her research focuses on international trade, the history of international economic institutions and European integration. She has published on the European Economic Community’s role in the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade negotiations and the evolution of the European Investment Bank. Her recent publications in include Deciphering the European Investment Bank: History, Politics, and Economics (co-edited with Helen Kavvadia, Routledge, 2022); The Making of a World Trading Power: The European Economic Community in the GATT Kennedy Round Negotiations (1963–1967) (Routledge, 2013).

Francesco Petrini is Associate professor in History of International Relations at the University of Padua. His research interests comprise European integration history, Italy’s contemporary history and international economic history. His latest book is about Italy and the external constraint (La sferza del cambio. Il vincolo esterno nella storia dell’Italia repubblicana, Milano, 2025).

Leonida Tedoldi is Full Professor of History of International Relations at the University of Bergamo. His research focuses on the history of European and international institutions, democratic transitions and the role of international organizations in postwar political transformations. He has published on constitutional developments, parliamentary history and the influence of external actors on domestic political change. His publications include 'The Constitutive Process of European Central Bank: Issues and Problems of the Institutional Aspects' in Instituta. Journal of History of European and International Institutions, 2023 and 'The “Commission de Coordination' (Cocor) of the ECSC Special Council of Ministers', in Ventunesimo secolo, n. 53, 2023.