This research program analyzes the political and social context created by the acceleration of globalization processes since the last decade of the 20th century, including the intensification of processes of commercial integration worldwide and the dynamics of the new regionalism. The main topics of this program are the transformation and strengthening of state institutions; the behavior of political, social and economic national actors in this new environment of highly global dynamics; and the interdependences produced between countries, which accelerate institutional and public policy change.

From the perspective of political economy, the main concerns of this research program are the changes in the composition and relative influence of the different actors who participate in the configurations of institutions and public policies, both national and transnational. Especially in the developing world, there is a need to study and debate processes of economic growth and democratic consolidation, and to consider the transformation of the structures of interests and the configuration of actors’ preferences produced by the aforementioned processes of globalization and integration.

Finally, this research program examines the characteristics of institutional innovations and new public policies, their impact on national societies and the mechanisms of their international diffusion. Special emphasis is placed on the new political, economic and financial institutions created by globalization processes and the political, economic and social reactions to them.

Thematic fields of research

• The dynamics and politics of development
• The impacts of regional integration processes
• The transnationalization of economic activities
• Processes of diffusion of politics and institutions
• Democracy, states, and growth