IMF Archives: Finding Aids
Research Department Records
Date(s): 1949-1991 |
Context
Name of Creator: Research Department
Administrative/Biographical history: The Research Department (RES) was formed in 1946 as one of the first organized units of the IMF. Directors of RES have included: 1947-1958: Edward M. Bernstein; 1958-1976: Jacques J. Polak; 1976-1986: William C. Hood; 1987-1991: Jacob A. Frenkel; 1991-2001: Michael Mussa; 2001-2003: Kenneth Rogoff; 2003-present: Raghuram G. Rajan.
When the department was initiated in 1946, there were twelve divisions - eight geographical and four functional. The geographic divisions consisted of: British Empire, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, U.S. and Canada, Middle East, Far East, Latin America (North) and Latin America (South). The functional divisions consisted of: Balance of Payments; Gold, Silver and Capital Movements; Exchange Controls; and Statistical Reports and Publications. With the IMF's first major reorganization in 1950, the geographic divisions were separated from the Research Department to become Area Departments, and the Research Department maintained and expanded its functional divisions.
The primary mission of the Research Department is to assist management and the Executive Board with their responsibilities to undertake research on issues of relevance to the IMF, and to review the analysis and policy prescriptions developed in the work of other IMF departments. The Research Department conducts multilateral surveillance in order to fulfill this mission. Notable components of the Department's work include: preparation of the World Economic Outlook (WEO); preparation and presentation of discussions of "World Economic and Market Developments" by the Executive Board; preparation of the "International Capital Markets Report," the "Global Markets Monitor," and surveillance notes for the G-7, G-20, and other regional groupings; co-management of the Coordinating Group on Exchange Rate Issues and reporting on the work of this group to the Executive Board; development, maintenance and application of the IMF's multilateral macroeconomic model for use in analyzing issues in both multilateral and bilateral surveillance; maintenance of databases on commodity prices and application to commodity price data in surveillance and operations; and preparation of policy papers for the Executive Board.
Content and structure
Scope and content: The records of the Research Department consist of the Department's Immediate Office files. These files are comprised of the Department Director's files and files from the Offices of the Deputy Director, Senior Advisors and Advisors. Files of Research Department Divisions are scheduled for processing.
Under Bernstein, the Research Department developed a filing or "classification" plan for its own records. This plan was soon distributed to the IMF at large as a means for organizing institutional records, and soon thereafter, the Central Files system of recordkeeping was instituted. Researchers will therefore find materials from the earlier years of the Research Department in the Central Files Collection.
Under the Policy on Access to the IMF's Archives only archival materials that are 20 years old or older are open to researchers.
For re-use of digital archival documents where available, it is the responsibility of the individual to obtain permission from the copyright owner.