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Controversies over the impact of development aid: it works; it doesn't; it can, but that depends …

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Author Info
Mark McGillivray (World Institute for Development Economics Research, Helsinki, Finland)
Simon Feeny (Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, Melbourne, Australia)
Niels Hermes (University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands)
Robert Lensink (University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands)

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Abstract

This paper surveys five decades of empirical research on the macroeconomic impact of aid, looking mainly at studies examining the link between aid and growth. It argues that studies dating until the late 1990s produced either contradictory or inconclusive results. Aid either worked, or it didn't, according to this research. The paper then highlights a major shift in the literature that coincided with the release of the World Bank's Assessing Aid: What Works, What Doesn't and Why. Practically, all research published since that report agrees with its general finding that aid works to the extent that in its absence, growth would be lower. One controversy may therefore have been settled. Yet, as shown in this paper, the report has set-off an intense debate over the context in which aid works. That debate centres on whether the effectiveness of these inflows depends on the policy regime of recipient countries. Some possible avenues through which the heat might be taken out of this debate are considered. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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Article provided by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. in its journal Journal of International Development.

Volume (Year): 18 (2006)
Issue (Month): 7 ()
Pages: 1031-1050
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Handle: RePEc:wly:jintdv:v:18:y:2006:i:7:p:1031-1050

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References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
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Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Christian Lessmann & Gunther Markwardt, 2009. "Aid, Growth and Devolution," CESifo Working Paper Series CESifo Working Paper No. , CESifo Group Munich. [Downloadable!]
  2. Derek Headey, 2008. "Geopolitics and the effect of foreign aid on economic growth: 1970-2001," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 20(2), pages 161-180. [Downloadable!]
  3. Stijn Claessens & Danny Cassimon, 2007. "Empirical evidence on the new international aid architecture," WEF Working Papers 0026, ESRC World Economy and Finance Research Programme, Birkbeck, University of London. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  4. Pettersson, Jan & Johansson, Lars M, 2009. "Tied Aid, Trade-Facilitating Aid or Trade-Diverting Aid?," Working Paper Series 2009:5, Uppsala University, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
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