91 books like After Hegemony

By Robert O. Keohane,

Here are 91 books that After Hegemony fans have personally recommended if you like After Hegemony. Shepherd is a community of 11,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

Shepherd is reader supported. When you buy books, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Book cover of Poor Economics: A Radical Rethinking of the Way to Fight Global Poverty

Ranjit Lall Author Of Making International Institutions Work: The Politics of Performance

From my list on international political economy.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am an academic at the University of Oxford who specializes in international political economy, so I study this topic for a living! I am particularly interested in the politics of international cooperation and economic development. Growing up, I traveled extensively in developing countries across Asia and Africa, which inspired in me a deep curiosity about the determinants of sustained economic growth. I also spent much time in Geneva, where my father frequently worked with United Nations agencies. His anecdotes about these institutions each evening made me wonder what caused some of them to perform effectively and others to perform poorly—and how they could be improved. 

Ranjit's book list on international political economy

Ranjit Lall Why did Ranjit love this book?

I have long believed that development economists rely too heavily on reductive formal models that ignore on-the-ground realities and are backed by scant empirical evidence. This book makes a compelling case for observation—particularly in the form of randomized controlled trials that approximate scientific experiments “in the field.”

I admire its rigorous use of the scientific method to critique theoretical approaches that draw much of their legitimacy and influence from technical sophistication and abstraction.

By Abhijit V. Banerjee, Esther Duflo,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked Poor Economics as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Why do the poor borrow to save? Why do they miss out on free life-saving immunizations, but pay for unnecessary drugs? In Poor Economics , Abhijit V. Banerjee and Esther Duflo, two practical visionaries working toward ending world poverty, answer these questions from the ground. In a book the Wall Street Journal called marvellous, rewarding," the authors tell how the stress of living on less than 99 cents per day encourages the poor to make questionable decisions that feed,not fight,poverty. The result is a radical rethinking of the economics of poverty that offers a ringside view of the lives of…


Book cover of The New Global Rulers: The Privatization of Regulation in the World Economy

Ranjit Lall Author Of Making International Institutions Work: The Politics of Performance

From my list on international political economy.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am an academic at the University of Oxford who specializes in international political economy, so I study this topic for a living! I am particularly interested in the politics of international cooperation and economic development. Growing up, I traveled extensively in developing countries across Asia and Africa, which inspired in me a deep curiosity about the determinants of sustained economic growth. I also spent much time in Geneva, where my father frequently worked with United Nations agencies. His anecdotes about these institutions each evening made me wonder what caused some of them to perform effectively and others to perform poorly—and how they could be improved. 

Ranjit's book list on international political economy

Ranjit Lall Why did Ranjit love this book?

Who writes the rules of the global economy? This book pulls back the curtain on what I consider one of the most profound transformations in global governance in recent decades: the delegation of regulatory authority by governments to international private-sector organizations, such as the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the International Accountability Standards Board (IASB).

I was only dimly aware of this shift before I read the book, and I had wondered who its “winners and losers” were across sectors and countries. The authors provide surprising and nuanced answers based on wide-ranging data collection as well as interviews with key stakeholders.

By Tim Buthe, Walter Mattli,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The New Global Rulers as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Over the past two decades, governments have delegated extensive regulatory authority to international private-sector organizations. This internationalization and privatization of rule making has been motivated not only by the economic benefits of common rules for global markets, but also by the realization that government regulators often lack the expertise and resources to deal with increasingly complex and urgent regulatory tasks. The New Global Rulers examines who writes the rules in international private organizations, as well as who wins, who loses--and why. Tim Buthe and Walter Mattli examine three powerful global private regulators: the International Accounting Standards Board, which develops financial…


Book cover of One Economics, Many Recipes: Globalization, Institutions, and Economic Growth

Ranjit Lall Author Of Making International Institutions Work: The Politics of Performance

From my list on international political economy.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am an academic at the University of Oxford who specializes in international political economy, so I study this topic for a living! I am particularly interested in the politics of international cooperation and economic development. Growing up, I traveled extensively in developing countries across Asia and Africa, which inspired in me a deep curiosity about the determinants of sustained economic growth. I also spent much time in Geneva, where my father frequently worked with United Nations agencies. His anecdotes about these institutions each evening made me wonder what caused some of them to perform effectively and others to perform poorly—and how they could be improved. 

Ranjit's book list on international political economy

Ranjit Lall Why did Ranjit love this book?

This book presents one of the most thoughtful and—to me—convincing accounts of the relationship between globalization and economic growth.

The author rejects the simple dichotomies offered up by “pro-globalizers” and “anti-globalizers,” arguing that successful development tends to require experimentation, pragmatism, and the adaptation of policy tools to local contexts.

This empirically grounded perspective not only explains a great deal of variation in the fortunes of developing countries but also complements and extends key principles of economics. 

By Dani Rodrik,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked One Economics, Many Recipes as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In One Economics, Many Recipes, leading economist Dani Rodrik argues that neither globalizers nor antiglobalizers have got it right. While economic globalization can be a boon for countries that are trying to dig out of poverty, success usually requires following policies that are tailored to local economic and political realities rather than obeying the dictates of the international globalization establishment. A definitive statement of Rodrik's original and influential perspective on economic growth and globalization, One Economics, Many Recipes shows how successful countries craft their own unique strategies--and what other countries can learn from them. To most proglobalizers, globalization is a…


Book cover of The Making of Economic Policy: A Transaction-Cost Politics Perspective

Ranjit Lall Author Of Making International Institutions Work: The Politics of Performance

From my list on international political economy.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am an academic at the University of Oxford who specializes in international political economy, so I study this topic for a living! I am particularly interested in the politics of international cooperation and economic development. Growing up, I traveled extensively in developing countries across Asia and Africa, which inspired in me a deep curiosity about the determinants of sustained economic growth. I also spent much time in Geneva, where my father frequently worked with United Nations agencies. His anecdotes about these institutions each evening made me wonder what caused some of them to perform effectively and others to perform poorly—and how they could be improved. 

Ranjit's book list on international political economy

Ranjit Lall Why did Ranjit love this book?

This classic work of political economy—one of the first books I read on the subject—begins with the striking observation that few countries follow the advice of economists in setting trade policy. Rather, this choice must be recognized as fundamentally political.

The author sets out an innovative formal framework that explains policy outcomes in terms of the transaction costs that arise in economic interactions (such as trade). This parsimonious yet powerful approach has significantly shaped my understanding of how economic policymaking works in practice.

By Avinash K. Dixit,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Making of Economic Policy as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The Making of Economic Policy begins by observing that most countries' trade policies are so blatantly contrary to all the prescriptions of the economist that there is no way to understand this discrepancy except by delving into the politics. The same is true for many other dimensions of economic policy.

Avinash Dixit looks for an improved understanding of the politics of economic policy-making from a transaction cost perspective. Such costs of planning, implementing, and monitoring an exchange have proved critical to explaining many phenomena in industrial organization. Dixit discusses the variety of similar transaction costs encountered in the political process…


Book cover of National Power and the Structure of Foreign Trade

Stephen C. Nelson Author Of The Currency of Confidence: How Economic Beliefs Shape the IMF's Relationship with Its Borrowers

From my list on politics that shaped international economic order.

Why am I passionate about this?

I was born in North Dakota and raised outside of Minneapolis in the 1980s and 1990s, a period marked by the ascendance of global trade and finance. I got hooked on reading, thinking, and talking about the politics of international economic relations in college. Sufficiently hooked, I guess, that I applied to graduate school to try and make it my vocation. My research and teaching to this point have focused on how key political and ideational forces in domestic and world politics – namely, international organizations, shared economic beliefs, social conventions, and material interests – shape the governance of globalized markets and the crafting of countries’ foreign economic policies.

Stephen's book list on politics that shaped international economic order

Stephen C. Nelson Why did Stephen love this book?

Reading this book in graduate school was revelatory. It was mostly ignored upon publication. But in the subsequent eighty years Hirschman’s insights have become part of the bedrock of my field of international political economy.

The key idea is that countries seeking to enhance and expand their power can use “liberal” commercial strategies to induce economic and political dependency in smaller, weaker partners. It’s dangerous, in other words, to simply assume that more extensive trade and investment flows between countries will engender a more stable, peaceful international system.

Uncontrolled trade can aggravate tensions and facilitate international disorder. Hirschman arrives at a bold idea: surrendering national authority to follow global rules and institutions is the only way to counteract the harmful effects of massive power and wealth inequalities in world politics.

By Albert O. Hirschman,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked National Power and the Structure of Foreign Trade as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

This study begins with a brief survey of economic thought on the relationship between foreign trade and national power, from the Mercantilists on. Chapter II attempts a systematic theoretical approach to the subject. It first makes clear the fundamental basis of the possible use of foreign trade as an instrument of national power policy. Using well-known concepts of economic analysis, it proceeds to show under what conditions and by means of what policies this instrument is likely to attain its highest efficiency. The principles of power policy thus deduced theoretically are then compared with the actual practices followed by German…


Book cover of The Globalization Paradox: Democracy and the Future of the World Economy

Harald Sander Author Of Understanding the New Global Economy: A European Perspective

From my list on how to make globalization work for all people.

Why am I passionate about this?

As a boomer and working-class kid, I experienced living conditions improving rapidly. This sparked my interest in studying international and development economics to explore how we can create a better and more equitable world. As professor of international economics, I have been researching and teaching for many years about what is now known as “globalization”. This taught me two things that inspired me to write my latest book: First, to understand the process and consequences of (de-)globalization, in-depth study is essential to avoid popular misconceptions about the global economy; and, second, globalization needs to be carefully managed to make it work for all people.

Harald's book list on how to make globalization work for all people

Harald Sander Why did Harald love this book?

This is one of the most influential books on economic globalization written in the last decade, and it will certainly continue to be crucial to understand the future of globalization.

Rodrik’s Globalization Paradox pinpoints the key policy trade-offs in a globalized economy: If policymakers opt for “hyper-globalization” while insisting on national decision-making, they could find their societies in the “golden straitjacket” of global capitalism.

Alternatively, they could give up sovereignty to democratically legitimized “global governance”.

As the latter is difficult to achieve and often unacceptable to national policymakers, Rodrik argues for limiting hyper-globalization.

The existence of a globalization paradox as well as Rodrik’s conclusion, has been hotly discussed, but the ongoing debate only proves the importance of his book.

By Dani Rodrik,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked The Globalization Paradox as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In this eloquent challenge to the reigning wisdom on globalization, Dani Rodrik reminds us of the importance of the nation-state, arguing forcefully that when the social arrangements of democracies inevitably clash with the international demands of globalization, national priorities should take precedence. Combining history with insight, humor with good-natured critique, Rodrik's case for a customizable globalization supported by a light frame of international rules shows the way to a balanced prosperity as we confront today's global challenges in trade, finance, and labor markets.


Book cover of The Economy: Economics for a Changing World

Ana Espinola-Arredondo Author Of Intermediate Microeconomic Theory: Tools and Step-by-Step Examples

From my list on getting into microeconomics.

Why am I passionate about this?

When understanding the interactions in our economy, it is critical to recognize all participants in this complex system. I’m passionate about microeconomics because it provides me with a different perspective to examine the world around me. I use my microeconomic glasses and I enjoy rationalizing the daily interactions and predicting the potential outcomes.

Ana's book list on getting into microeconomics

Ana Espinola-Arredondo Why did Ana love this book?

This eBook, developed by faculty members from top institutions, is available for free from the developers’ website, offers several online resources, it's frequently updated, translated to several languages, and has been widely adopted in several countries.

The book includes both the usual topics for courses on introduction to microeconomics and introduction to macroeconomics, using a similar writing style as other introductory textbooks (assumes no mathematical background), thus being accessible to a wide range of students.

Unlike similar books, however, it structures topics differently: instead of presenting chapters according to the main tool or concept being introduced, chapters are presented according to real-world problems.

While this can help motivate each chapter, it may require some adapting from the instructor’s teaching style.

By The CORE Team,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Economy as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The only introductory economics text to equip students to address today's pressing problems by mastering the conceptual and quantitative tools of contemporary economics.

OUP has partnered with the international collaborative project of CORE researchers and teachers to bring students a book and learning system that complements and enhances CORE's open-access online e-book.

The Economy:
- is a new approach that integrates recent developments in economics including contract theory, strategic interaction, behavioural economics and financial instability
- Engages with issues students of economics care about, exploring inequality, climate change, economic instability, wealth creation and innovation, among other issues.
- provides a…


Book cover of Revolution in Development: Mexico and the Governance of the Global Economy

Francine McKenzie Author Of GATT and Global Order in the Postwar Era

From my list on why international trade is all about politics.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am a professor of history at Western University in London, Ontario, Canada. I have written about the history of international organizations, international trade, the British Commonwealth, and Canada in the world. Although these topics have taken me in different directions, I have always examined the political currents that run through them. Politics emerge in relation to ideology, policymaking, leadership, norms, values, interests, identity, international relations, and global governance. I have been especially interested in connecting economics and politics. Many scholars write about trade policies, organizations, and negotiations as though they are technical and narrowly economic when they are agents, instruments, and expressions of international politics. 

Francine's book list on why international trade is all about politics

Francine McKenzie Why did Francine love this book?

This book explains why Mexico has been important to the governance of the global economy.

Mexican officials and economists promoted a post-colonial and development conception of the global economy based on equality, inclusion, and redistribution. Thornton writes about the entire architecture of the global economy, of which international trade was an important part.

Her work explains the significance of a politics of resistance that shaped and was suppressed by the global economic order. She notes that scholarship that excludes or minimizes global South countries perpetuates their marginalization.

By Christy Thornton,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Revolution in Development as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

One of The Chronicle of Higher Education's Best Scholarly Books of 2021

Revolution in Development uncovers the surprising influence of postrevolutionary Mexico on the twentieth century's most important international economic institutions. Drawing on extensive archival research in Mexico, the United States, and Great Britain, Christy Thornton meticulously traces how Mexican officials repeatedly rallied Third World leaders to campaign for representation in global organizations and redistribution through multilateral institutions. By decentering the United States and Europe in the history of global economic governance, Revolution in Development shows how Mexican economists, diplomats, and politicians fought for more than five decades to reform…


Book cover of The Globalization Syndrome: Transformation and Resistance

Norrin M. Ripsman Author Of Globalization and the National Security State

From my list on globalization and security.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have studied the impact of economics on security for decades. In addition to co-authoring Globalization and the National Security State, I published books on economic interdependence and security, the efficacy of economic sanctions and incentives as tools of foreign and security policy, and the use of economic instruments to promote regional peacemaking. In general, I have always been fascinated by the economic underpinnings of security, from Napoleon’s observation that an army marches on its stomach to the utility of advanced financial sanctions to punish rogue actors in the contemporary era.

Norrin's book list on globalization and security

Norrin M. Ripsman Why did Norrin love this book?

This is a good early analysis of globalization and the enormous transformations it is reputed to have brought about. Its contributions are many, including a conceptualization of globalization that goes beyond economic exchange to include cultural, social, and political dimensions of global interactions.

Overall, Mittelman sees the immense, unsettling tensions in globalization that are likely to give rise to contestation and conflict.

By James H. Mittelman,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Globalization Syndrome as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Here James Mittelman explains the systemic dynamics and myriad consequences of globalization, focusing on the interplay between globalizing market forces, in some instances guided by the state, and the needs of society. Mittelman finds that globalization is hardly a unified phenomenon but rather a syndrome of processes and activities: a set of ideas and a policy framework. More specifically, globalization is propelled by a changing division of labor and power, manifested in a new regionalism, and challenged by fledgling resistance movements. The author argues that a more complete understanding of globalization requires an appreciation of its cultural dimensions. From this…


Book cover of World on Fire: How Exporting Free Market Democracy Breeds Ethnic Hatred and Global Instability

John H. Sibley Author Of Being and Homelessness: notes from an underground artist

From my list on understanding homelessness and existentialism.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am a Chicago-based artist, author, veteran, and teacher. I studied at the American Academy of Art in Chicago before enlisting in the United States Air Force in 1968 during the bloody Tet Offensive during the Vietnam era. Upon my discharge I got my BFA in 1994. I got convicted for a crime I did not commit, and I became a homeless-existential artist on Chicago’s mean streets for six months. I got hired by an Acoustic company, and I married and worked for twenty-seven years while raising a family. I now work as an art teacher. All my nonfiction books chronicle different episodes in my life. 

John's book list on understanding homelessness and existentialism

John H. Sibley Why did John love this book?

When I was a homeless artist, I stumbled across this brilliant book, and it validated my belief that contrary to what global capitalists believe, free markets outside the West do not spread wealth in the hands of an ‘outsider’ minority but instead generate ethnic envy and hatred among the frustrated, impoverished majorities.

Amy Chua states that billions of poor, exploited, and powerful people around the world (homeless and displaced) watch as the wealthy minority in the United States continues to amass more control, prestige, and tax breaks.

Ironically, Chua points out, although America is viewed “as arrogant, hegemonic and vapidly materialistic, most of the downtrodden would rather be in the U. S. than anywhere else. In 2023, close to 10 million illegal migrants have entered the U.S. via the porous Texas border.

By Amy Chua,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked World on Fire as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The reigning consensus holds that the combination of free markets and democracy would transform the third world and sweep away the ethnic hatred and religious zealotry associated with underdevelopment. In this revelatory investigation of the true impact of globalization, Yale Law School professor Amy Chua explains why many developing countries are in fact consumed by ethnic violence after adopting free market democracy.

Chua shows how in non-Western countries around the globe, free markets have concentrated starkly disproportionate wealth in the hands of a resented ethnic minority. These “market-dominant minorities” – Chinese in Southeast Asia, Croatians in the former Yugoslavia, whites…


5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in international economics, the political economy, and globalization?

Globalization 114 books