IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/frz/wpaper/wp2008_11.rdf.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Aid Effort and Its Determinants: A Comparison of the Italian Performance with other OECD Donors

Author

Listed:

Abstract

this paper aims at contributing to a better understanding of the determinants of aid effort by donor countries, a topic that has been rather under researched in the vast economic literature on development aid. We conduct an econometric analysis on panel data that refer to the 22 member countries of the OECD Development Assistance Committee over the 1970 2004 period; the estimates are then used as a benchmark against which we assess to what extent the poor Italian aid performance can be traced back to its specific macroeconomic, structural and institutional characteristics. The analysis suggests that these factors – that are found to significantly influence aid effort – fall short of explaining the limited amount of fiscal resources that Italy devotes to international aid. Even when its specific characteristics are accounted for, Italy is found to be lagging behind the OECD norm, so that the analysis challenges the claims that the limited Italian aid effort is due to binding fiscal constraints.

Suggested Citation

  • Simone Bertoli & Giovanni Andrea Cornia & Francesco Manaresi, 2008. "Aid Effort and Its Determinants: A Comparison of the Italian Performance with other OECD Donors," Working Papers - Economics wp2008_11.rdf, Universita' degli Studi di Firenze, Dipartimento di Scienze per l'Economia e l'Impresa.
    • Handle: RePEc:frz:wpaper:wp2008_11.rdf
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.disei.unifi.it/upload/sub/pubblicazioni/repec/pdf/wp11_2008.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Dudley, Leonard M, 1979. "Foreign Aid and the Theory of Alliances," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 61(4), pages 564-571, November.
    2. Anke Hoeffler & Scott Gates, 2004. "Global Aid Allocation: Are Nordic Donors Different?," Economics Series Working Papers WPS/2004-34, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
    3. Gradstein, Mark & Chong, Alberto E., 2006. "Who's Afraid of Foreign Aid?: The Donors' Perspective," IDB Publications (Working Papers) 1573, Inter-American Development Bank.
    4. David Dollar & Craig Burnside, 2000. "Aid, Policies, and Growth," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 90(4), pages 847-868, September.
    5. M. Ugur Karakaplan & Bilin Neyapti & Selin Sayek, 2005. "Aid and Foreign Direct Investment : International Evidence," Working Papers 0505, Department of Economics, Bilkent University.
    6. Scott Gates & Anke Hoeffler, 2004. "Global Aid Allocation: Are Nordic Donors Different?," CSAE Working Paper Series 2004-34, Centre for the Study of African Economies, University of Oxford.
    7. Im, Kyung So & Pesaran, M. Hashem & Shin, Yongcheol, 2003. "Testing for unit roots in heterogeneous panels," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 115(1), pages 53-74, July.
    8. Beck, Thorsten & Clarke, George & Groff, Alberto & Keefer, Philip & Walsh, Patrick, 2000. "New tools and new tests in comparative political economy - the database of political institutions," Policy Research Working Paper Series 2283, The World Bank.
    9. Anne Boschini & Anders Olofsgård, 2007. "Foreign aid: An instrument for fighting communism?," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 43(4), pages 622-648.
    10. Elbadawi, Ibrahim A, 1999. "External Aid: Help or Hindrance to Export Orientation in Africa?," Journal of African Economies, Centre for the Study of African Economies, vol. 8(4), pages 578-616, December.
    11. David Roodman, 2007. "The Anarchy of Numbers: Aid, Development, and Cross-Country Empirics," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 21(2), pages 255-277, May.
    12. Schiff, Maurice, 1994. "How trade, aid, and remittances affect international migration," Policy Research Working Paper Series 1376, The World Bank.
    13. Round, Jeffery I. & Odedokun, Matthew, 2004. "Aid effort and its determinants," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 13(3), pages 293-309.
    14. Faini, Riccardo, 2006. "Foreign Aid and Fiscal Policy," CEPR Discussion Papers 5721, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    15. Collier, Paul & Dollar, David, 2002. "Aid allocation and poverty reduction," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 46(8), pages 1475-1500, September.
    16. Christopher S Adam & Stephen A O'Connell, 2004. "Aid versus Trade Revisited: Donor and Recipient Policies in the Presence of Learning-by-Doing," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 114(492), pages 150-173, January.
    17. Alessandro Missale & Silvia Marchesi, 2004. "What does motivate lending and aid to the HIPCs?," International Finance 0411006, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    18. KIMURA Hidemi & TODO Yasuyuki, 2007. "Is Foreign Aid a Vanguard of FDI? A Gravity-Equation Approach," Discussion papers 07007, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    19. Alberto Chong & Mark Gradstein, 2006. "Who’s Afraid of Foreign Aid? The Donors’ Perspective," CESifo Working Paper Series 1833, CESifo Group Munich.
    20. Hoekman. Bernard & Prowse, Susan, 2005. "Economic policy responses to preference erosion : from trade as aid toaid for trade," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3721, The World Bank.
    21. Daniel Cohen, 1998. "The Sustainability of African Debt," International Economic Association Series, in: Daniel Cohen (ed.), Contemporary Economic Issues, chapter 7, pages 160-181, Palgrave Macmillan.
    22. Mosley, Paul, 1985. "The Political Economy of Foreign Aid: A Model of the Market for a Public Good," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 33(2), pages 373-393, January.
    23. Mr. Thierry Tressel & Mr. Alessandro Prati, 2006. "Aid Volatility and Dutch Disease: Is There a Role for Macroeconomic Policies?," IMF Working Papers 2006/145, International Monetary Fund.
    24. Schweinberger, Albert G. & Lahiri, Sajal, 2006. "On the provision of official and private foreign aid," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(1), pages 179-197, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Simone Bertoli & Giovanni Andrea Cornia & Francesco Manaresi, 2007. "Aid performance and its determinants. A comparison of Italy with the OECD norm," Banca Nazionale del Lavoro Quarterly Review, Banca Nazionale del Lavoro, vol. 60(242), pages 271-321.
    2. Fuchs, Andreas & Dreher, Axel & Nunnenkamp, Peter, 2014. "Determinants of Donor Generosity: A Survey of the Aid Budget Literature," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 172-199.
    3. Paul Clist, 2009. "25 Years of Aid Allocation Practice: Comparing Donors and Eras," Discussion Papers 09/11, University of Nottingham, CREDIT.
    4. Gnangnon, Sèna Kimm, 2017. "Structural economic vulnerability, openness and bilateral development aid flows," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 77-95.
    5. Sèna Kimm Gnangnon, 2013. "How do OECD donor countries distribute foreign aid among developing countries during their fiscal episodes?," CERDI Working papers halshs-00786009, HAL.
    6. Sena Kimm Gnangnon, 2019. "De Facto Fiscal Space in Donor-countries and Their Aid Supply: To What Extent is Trade-related Aid Supply Affected?," South Asian Journal of Macroeconomics and Public Finance, , vol. 8(1), pages 1-25, June.
    7. Beletskaya, M., 2019. "Bilateral International Assistance: Factors for Donor Countries," Journal of the New Economic Association, New Economic Association, vol. 43(3), pages 95-114.
    8. Sèna Kimm Gnangnon, 2018. "Donors’ Trade and Their Supply of Development Aid Related to the Trade Sector: Does Donors’ Output Gap Matter?," Journal of International Commerce, Economics and Policy (JICEP), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 9(01n02), pages 1-30, February.
    9. Sena Kimm GNANGNON, 2013. "How do OECD donor countries distribute foreign aid among developing countries during their fiscal episodes?," Working Papers 201301, CERDI.
    10. Tierney, Michael J. & Nielson, Daniel L. & Hawkins, Darren G. & Roberts, J. Timmons & Findley, Michael G. & Powers, Ryan M. & Parks, Bradley & Wilson, Sven E. & Hicks, Robert L., 2011. "More Dollars than Sense: Refining Our Knowledge of Development Finance Using AidData," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 39(11), pages 1891-1906.
    11. Sèna Kimm Gnangnon, 2013. "How do OECD donor countries distribute foreign aid among developing countries during their fiscal episodes?," Working Papers halshs-00786009, HAL.
    12. Clist, Paul, 2011. "25Years of Aid Allocation Practice: Whither Selectivity?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 39(10), pages 1724-1734.
    13. Gravier-Rymaszewska, Joanna, 2012. "How Aid Supply Responds to Economic Crises: A Panel VAR Approach," WIDER Working Paper Series 025, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    14. Joanna Gravier-Rymaszewska, 2012. "How Aid Supply Responds to Economic Crises: A Panel VAR Approach," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2012-025, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    15. Alessandro De Matteis, 2016. "Whose poverty really matters when deciding aid volumes?," International Journal of Public Policy, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 12(1/2), pages 28-53.
    16. Paxton, Pamela & Knack, Stephen, 2008. "Individual and country-level factors affecting support for foreign aid," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4714, The World Bank.
    17. Alessandro De Matteis, 2018. "Follow the leader! The peer effect in aid supply decisions," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 36(6), pages 631-648, October.
    18. Hyun‐Hoon Lee & Donghyun Park & Meehwa Shin, 2015. "Do Developing‐country WTO Members Receive More Aid for Trade (AfT)?," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(9), pages 1462-1485, September.
    19. Rainer Thiele & Peter Nunnenkamp & Axel Dreher, 2007. "Do Donors Target Aid in Line with the Millennium Development Goals? A Sector Perspective of Aid Allocation," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 143(4), pages 596-630, December.
    20. Chong, Alberto & Gradstein, Mark, 2008. "What determines foreign aid? The donors' perspective," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(1), pages 1-13, August.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    foreign aid; fiscal expenditures; economic development;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F35 - International Economics - - International Finance - - - Foreign Aid
    • H59 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Other
    • H87 - Public Economics - - Miscellaneous Issues - - - International Fiscal Issues; International Public Goods
    • O1 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:frz:wpaper:wp2008_11.rdf. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Giorgio Ricchiuti (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/defirit.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.