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Rev Int Organ (2009) 4:293317
DOI 10.1007/s11558-009-9063-8
Thijs Van de Graaf & Dries Lesage
Received: 14 May 2009 /Revised: 1 July 2009 /Accepted: 2 July 2009 / Published online: 11 July 2009# Springer Science + Business Media, LLC 2009
Abstract Despite the mounting scholarly interest in processes of institutional change in international organizations, still very little is known about how and when such evolutionary dynamics occur. This article hopes to contribute to this young, yet growing body of literature by process-tracing the changes that have occurred in the institutional setup of the International Energy Agency (IEA). Founded during the first oil crisis of 197374, the IEA has had to deal with major environmental changes over its lifetime. In response, the agency has diversified away from its original raison dtre, namely managing an emergency oil sharing mechanism, to become a more proactive policy adviser guiding its member governments toward sustainable energy economies. The article seeks to explain the observed patterns of change and inertia, using a theoretic paradigm that builds on theories of new institutionalism. The paper argues that the agencys institutional flexibility can only be fully explained by taking into account a combination of factors: (1) the member states choices, in particular the impulses of the G8-members of the IEA; (2) path dependency, especially the institutional link with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD); and (3) agency by the secretariat and the executive bureau of the IEA.
Keywords International Energy Agency. Institutional change .
International organizations . Global energy governance . New institutionalism
JEL codes F53 . F55 . F59 . Q48 . Q49
T. Van de Graaf (*) : D. Lesage
Global Governance Research Group, Ghent University, Universiteitstraat 8, 9000 Gent, Belgium e-mail: [email protected]
The International Energy Agency after 35 years: Reform needs and institutional adaptability
294 T. Van de Graaf, D. Lesage
1 Introduction
There are only few international organizations in the world dealing primarily with energy, at least in comparison to other policy domains such as trade, security, development and the environment. The most advanced multilateral energy organization is undoubtedly the International Energy Agency (IEA). The IEA was founded in 1974 as a club of Western oil-consuming countries in reaction to the politically motivated oil embargo instigated by the Arab...