Ideas and institutions in global governance - the case of microcredit

There is a growing demand for effective strategic problem solving in relation to a wide array of global policy problems such as AIDS, poverty, global warming, etc. This makes the introduction of new policy ideas for institutional change increasingly important in global governance. But researchers need a new approach in order to better grasp the complexity in global problem solving. We need to know more about how ideas emerge, spread and transform in a complex, networked global environment. New literature on institutional dynamics can inform the literature on global governance networks, especially when it comes to the meta-governance of global networks.

Based on a case study of microcredit and its emergence as a policy idea in development policy, the paper will illustrate the use of institutional dynamic conceptualisation in global governance.