The origins of informality: Why the legal foundations of global governance are shifting, and why it matters.

International organization (IO) study is dominated by scholars focusing on IOs with legally binding Charters or Articles of Agreement. Informal IO creation with independent agency impetus from a powerful IO-creating OECD state may enable non-OECD states to create or empower their own independent agencies to participate in such informal IOs. It is unclear whether the regulatory state's rise in non-OECD states will also lead to further informal IO creation at the regional and subregional level, or whether powerful OECD states and their domestic constituencies will dictate future informal IO creation.