434,066 research outputs found
Part 1: The Congestion of Humanitarian Space
No full textYes¿Part 1: The congestion of humanitarian space¿, assesses what affect the rapid proliferation
of the international aid community¿s presence in Sri Lanka has had on local level
relationships and emergency response capacities. It contends that the burgeoning presence
of aid agencies resulted in humanitarian assistance becoming a hotly contested and
competitive activity. It goes on to identify the possible factors that have contributed to the
rapid congestion of this space in suggesting an explanation of why the humanitarian
communities¿ normative standards appear to have failed
Aid for trade facilitation
No full textDoes foreign aid spent on trade facilitation increase trade flows of developing countries? There is an on-going and high profile discussion of aid-for-trade associated with the Doha negotiations of the World Trade Organization. There continue also questions about how best to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. The analysis in this paper explicitly considers how to target aid most effectively to increase trade – a fundamental question related to the crisis and policy debate over restarting the world trading system. Using detailed data on aid flows from the OECD, the analysis here estimates the responsiveness of trade flows to specific types of foreign aid. The findings indicate that aid directed toward promoting trade enhances the trade performance of recipient countries: a 1 percent increase in aid directed toward trade policy and regulatory reform (amounting to about US818 million. This yields a"rate of return"on every dollar of this type of aid of about US$697 in additional trade. As the dollar aid flow is relatively small, such targeted aid mitigates concerns about absorptive capacity and real exchange rate appreciation, which may accompany larger disbursements.
Food Aid and the WTO: Can New Rules Be Effective?
No full textA new Agreement on Agriculture from the Doha Development Agenda negotiations is certain to contain binding rules on food aid shipments. Negotiating parties are concerned that food aid has been used as a form of export competition policy, and they seek the use of coercive WTO legislation to prevent the disposal of surplus agricultural commodities as food aid. Current Uruguay Round food aid guidelines are contrasted with the most recent Doha Development Agenda proposals, and the prospective effectiveness of new rules is assessed. Food aid rules will be difficult to enforce within the WTO’s Dispute Settlement Understanding. Also, exogenous policy changes in donor countries are reducing the relevance of rules that target food aid as a means of surplus disposal. The future of international food aid governance in the event of a Doha Round collapse is also discussed.agricultural trade, development economics, export competition, food aid, WTO, Food Security and Poverty, International Relations/Trade, O13, O19, Q17, F13,
Has Aid Helped in Pakistan?
No full textThis paper has a two-fold objective: first, to examine the terms on which Pakistan receives aid and whether its debt situation is sustainable, and second, to examine the impact of aid and debt on economic growth. It is found that there is little encouraging that can be said about how the terms on which Pakistan has received aid over time have changed, and its current debt situation is not sustainable. Also reported is the analysis done elsewhere which shows that aid has a negative (Granger) causal impact on GDP, and aid has a robust negative impact on economic growth after controlling for supplyside shocks. We provide various reasons for this negative association.
Aid and Income Stabilization
No full textThis article contributes to the debate on aid volatility and argues that official assistance copes with exogenous output shocks in recipient countries and stabilizes resources available for the financing of consumption, investment and net trade. Stabilizing aid is effective in aid-dependent and vulnerable states. Aid volatility and disbursement lags are not significant determinants of the stabilizing impact of aid.foreign aid;Income stabilization;developing countries
American Aid in Saravane Province, Laos
No full textA report on the successes and failures of a US aid program in Savarane Province in Laos. Details the geography and history of the region, the history of American assistance, and the kinds of aid programs being used
Foreign aid and business bottlenecks : a study of aid effectiveness
No full textThis paper proposes a new framework to analyze aid effectiveness. Using World Bank firm survey data and OECD aid flow data, the authors analyze whether aid targets areas that firms in developing countries have identified as obstacles for their growth and whether aid actually improves firms'perceptions of those areas. The analysis finds that aid does target the areas that firms have identified as obstacles; aid funding trade related projects is particularly effective in targeting the correct countries. For the most part, aid has a positive impact on improving firms'perceptions, particularly in the business environment. And for each target area, smaller aid disbursements tend to be more effective at improving firm perceptions than larger disbursements.Environmental Economics&Policies,Development Economics&Aid Effectiveness,Disability,Gender and Health,School Health
Intertemporal Distribution of Foreign Aid
No full textWe analyze the dynamic effects of foreign aid on the economic growth and welfare of a recipient countries. Based on an overlapping generations model with a productive capital, foreign aid is characterized by its uses: whether it takes a form of income compensation (income aid) or capital stock (capital aid), and by its recipients: which generation(s) or institution hold(s) its ownership. We found some different results from those of the traditional wisdom of foreign aid. First, foreign aid tends to be less efficient without any condition to the recipient. Second, capital aid can be more efficient than income aid, and its efficiency could be even higher when capital aid is loaned in stead of being granted. Third, a stable relationship between the donors and the recipient may harm the efficiency of foreign aid.
Foreign Aid and Domestic Politics Implications for Aid Selectivity
No full textThe links between foreign aid and policies in developing countries have been at the forefront of the policy debate for decades. An emerging consensus touts aid selectivity as the solution to the failures of conditionality. In recent years, many recipients have implemented political reforms resulting in more democratic regimes. I show that donor influence depends on the aid budget being large enough relative to the recipient. I also demonstrate that if aid influences policies, the political equilibrium in democratic recipient countries is likely to change to the disadvantage of the political alternative favoured by the donor. This implies that aid selectivity should be applied cautiously.
Foreign aid and rent-seeking
No full textTo address the relationship between concessional assistance, corruption, and other types of rent-seeking activities, the author provides a simple game-theoretic rent-seeking model. Insights with interesting implications emerge from the analysis: 1) An increase in government revenue (from windfalls, for example, or from increased foreign aid) does not necessarily lead to the provision of more public goods and in certain circumstances may reduce it. 2) The mere expectation of aid may suffice to increase rent-dissipation and reduce productive public spending. But if the donor community can enter into a binding policy commitment, this result may be reversed. The author provides some preliminary empirical evidence in support of the hypothesis that windfalls and foreign aid, in countries suffering from a divided policy process, are on average associated with more extensive corruption. He finds no evidence that donors systematically allocate aid to countries with less corruption. The results accords with recent empirical findings that aid is more effective, the greater the effort to direct it to good performers. But such a regime shift may involve an aid policy that in the short run provides more assistance to countries in less need and less aid to those in most need. Enforcing such a regime shift might be difficult.Environmental Economics&Policies,Development Economics&Aid Effectiveness,Decentralization,Gender and Development,Economic Theory&Research,Economic Theory&Research,Environmental Economics&Policies,Governance Indicators,Inequality,Development Economics&Aid Effectiveness
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