Research
Peer-Reviewed Publications
Case-Ruchala, Devin (2023). "An old, novel idea: Introducing an original dataset of G-Pub formation." (Supplementary Information). Review of International Political Economy.
Amidst growing financial internationalization, public banks are a reemerging mode of financial governance that can serve as a policy tool for counter-cyclical crisis financing, proactive investment (e.g. green finance), or protectionist lending. Yet no systematic studies examine what leads governments to form public banks in the first place, in part due to a lack of data. This paper introduces an original dataset, conceptual framework, and descriptive empirical insights to serve as the basis for future research. I discuss contending definitions of public banks to advance the more targeted conceptualization of ‘government-initiated public banks’ (G-Pubs), or banks that are formed by governments and remain under government control through ownership and/or management. The dataset includes 1,355 banks and spans 195 countries for the period 1401–2020. Using these data, I test prevailing assumptions suggesting G-Pubs are more likely to form in less developed or more autocratic countries. I show that for the period 1970–2020, G-Pub formation is instead associated with developed democracies. Descriptive analysis prior to the 1970s further supports a more complex view. These findings underscore the need for a renewed research agenda on public banking that considers both domestic and international political economic dynamics, including international diffusion, financial integration, and crisis mechanisms.
Case-Ruchala, Devin (2023). "A Paradox of Openness: Democracies, Financial Integration & Crisis." Review of International Organizations.
Why do democracies experience financial crises more often than non-democracies? Revisiting the 2008 Great Financial Crisis (GFC) as a significant and informative test case, I argue that considering the way domestic institutions inhere in system-level structures is important to explaining crisis susceptibility among democracies since the turn of the twenty-first century. I introduce the mechanism of co-regime financial connections in showing that regime type is an important systematic feature of global financial flows. Employing a latent space network regression model using IMF Coordinated Portfolio Investment Survey (CPIS), I find that the network of cross-border portfolio asset investments is systematically patterned by co-democracy pairs. I then show that this regime-patterned interdependence affects increased financial crisis susceptibility among democracies. My findings build on literature highlighting the interdependence between domestic- and system-level factors and inform an empirical puzzle regarding the prevalence of financial crises among democracies.
Case-Ruchala, Devin and Nance, Mark (2024). "The Limits of Enforcement in Global Financial Governance: Blacklisting in FATF as Rational Myth." (Supplementary Information). International Studies Quarterly.
How might international institutions matter? To consider this central question of International Relations, we analyze a most-likely case for the importance of materially driven enforcement: the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) use of blacklisting in the global regime targeting money laundering and terrorism financing. Scholars and practitioners often argue that fear of financial harm caused by FATF’s lists explains the near-global commitment to FATF’s standards, even if compliance lags. We search for statistical evidence of this impact across four different measures of financial flows and find that listing is not correlated with financial harm. To explain these null results, we examine bank decision-making and find that the lists’ impact is likely diminished by two overlooked factors: the existence of multiple, competing lists and banks’ access to more fine-grained, client-specific information provided by third-party companies. We interpret this contradiction—a commitment to compliance generated in part by a fear of enforcement, despite a lack of evidence for enforcement’s impact—as a “rational myth.” The results challenge a common understanding of a major global governance regime, confirm ideas about the limited ability of states or International Organizations to control governance outcomes, and advance a new research agenda on the impact of bank decision-making on global governance.
Case-Ruchala, Devin and Melina Tobías (2025). “The Hard Work of Progressive Public Lending: FONPLATA and Financing the Sustainable Development Goals in Buenos Aires.” Chapter 2 of edited volume "Public Banks and Public Water in the Global South." Routledge. This research was organized by the Municipal Services Project, funded by a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Canada Insight Grant, and headquartered at the Global Development Studies department at Queen's University. See here for a primer on the broader Public Banks + Public Water research project.
This paper explores the innovative financing model between the regional public development bank FONPLATA and the Argentinian water operator Agua y Saneamientos Argentinos S.A. (AySA) aimed at supporting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area. In 2019, FONPLATA approved a loan to finance the Water + Work and Sewage + Work (W/S+W) programs, which enhance water and sanitation services while creating local employment by hiring cooperative members. This results-based loan ties disbursements to specific targets such as water and sewage connections, job creation, and gender equity. The study highlights the collaborative efforts between FONPLATA and AySA, illustrating how public-public partnerships can effectively address socio-economic goals. The paper also examines the challenges and successes of implementing this financing model, which has set a precedent for similar and subsequent loans for this kind of programs, historically financed by National Treasury. By detailing the development and impact of the FONPLATA-AySA partnership, the study contributes to the discourse on financing sustainable public services and the role of public development banks in achieving the SDGs.
Under Review
Case-Ruchala, Devin and Jacob Gunderson. "Hurry up or wait: Public bank formation in the 20th century." Submitted for review.
Public banks are a powerful, tested policy tool to overcome market failures and to smooth economic disruptions like the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change. Yet existing literature offers little insight into what explains their formation. We propose the first general theory and cross-sectional analysis of the formation of government-initiated public banks (G-Pubs). We argue that state formation operates as a historical cause, the contextual circumstances of which lead to two distinct, patterns: 1) serial formation when state formation occurs along with disruptions to the private financial sector and political support for economic nationalism; or 2) irregular formation when these conditions are absent but subsequent financial crises and policy advocates create specific demands for G-Pubs. We test and support our theory with paired case studies and an original bank-level dataset. Our analysis contributes to international, comparative, and historical political economy by examining an understudied financial tool and informs G-Pub formation today.