IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/unu/wpaper/wp-2013-075.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The Progressivity and Regressivity of Aid to the Social Sectors

Author

Listed:
  • Bob Baulch
  • Le Vi An Tam

Abstract

This paper analyses the distribution of total aid and aid to the social sectors between 2009 and 2011. Its key findings are four-fold. First, despite the stated objectives of donors, total aid disbursements are broadly neutral, favouring neither the most deprived nor relatively well-off countries. Second, the pattern of social sector aid disbursements follows those for total aid. Third, the aid allocation patterns of bilateral and multilateral donors differ, with multilateral donors generally being more focused on the poorest countries.

Suggested Citation

  • Bob Baulch & Le Vi An Tam, 2013. "The Progressivity and Regressivity of Aid to the Social Sectors," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2013-075, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    • Handle: RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp-2013-075
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.wider.unu.edu/sites/default/files/WP2013-075.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Peter Nunnenkamp & Rainer Thiele, 2013. "Financing for Development: The Gap between Words and Deeds since Monterrey," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 31(1), pages 75-98, January.
    2. Alesina, Alberto & Dollar, David, 2000. "Who Gives Foreign Aid to Whom and Why?," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 5(1), pages 33-63, March.
    3. Fleck, Robert K. & Kilby, Christopher, 2010. "Changing aid regimes? U.S. foreign aid from the Cold War to the War on Terror," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(2), pages 185-197, March.
    4. Axel Dreher & Andreas Fuchs, 2011. "Does terror increase aid?," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 149(3), pages 337-363, December.
    5. Helen V. Milner & Dustin H. Tingley, 2010. "The Political Economy Of U.S. Foreign Aid: American Legislators And The Domestic Politics Of Aid," Economics and Politics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(2), pages 200-232, July.
    6. Howard White & Mark McGillivray, 1995. "How Well is Aid Allocated? Descriptive Measures of Aid Allocation: A Survey of Methodology and Results," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 26(1), pages 163-183, January.
    7. William Easterly, 2007. "Are aid agencies improving? [‘Who gives foreign aid to whom and why?’]," Economic Policy, CEPR, CESifo, Sciences Po;CES;MSH, vol. 22(52), pages 634-678.
    8. Suits, Daniel B, 1977. "Measurement of Tax Progressivity," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 67(4), pages 747-752, September.
    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. Baulch, Bob & Tam, Le Vi An, 2013. "The Progressivity and Regressivity of Aid to the Social Sectors," WIDER Working Paper Series 075, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    2. Öhler, Hannes, 2013. "Do Aid Donors Coordinate Within Recipient Countries?," Working Papers 0539, University of Heidelberg, Department of Economics.
    3. repec:awi:wpaper:539 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Angelika J. Budjan & Andreas Fuchs, 2021. "Democracy and Aid Donorship," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 13(4), pages 217-238, November.
    5. Acht, Martin & Omar Mahmoud, Toman & Thiele, Rainer, 2014. "Corrupt governments receive less bilateral aid: Governance and the delivery of foreign aid through non-government actors," Kiel Working Papers 1901, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    6. 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.
    7. Dreher, Axel & Gehring, Kai & Klasen, Stephan, 2015. "Gesture Politics or Real Commitment? Gender Inequality and the Allocation of Aid," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 464-480.
    8. James Vreeland, 2011. "Foreign aid and global governance: Buying Bretton Woods – the Swiss-bloc case," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 6(3), pages 369-391, September.
    9. Azam, Jean-Paul & Thelen, Véronique, 2012. "Where to Spend Foreign Aid to Counter Terrorism," IDEI Working Papers 725, Institut d'Économie Industrielle (IDEI), Toulouse.
    10. Tobias Heinrich & Yoshiharu Kobayashi, 2022. "Evaluating explanations for poverty selectivity in foreign aid," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 75(1), pages 30-47, February.
    11. Brech, Viktor & Potrafke, Niklas, 2014. "Donor ideology and types of foreign aid," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(1), pages 61-75.
    12. Anke Hoeffler & Verity Outram, 2008. "Need, Merit or Self-Interest - What Determines the Allocation of Aid?," Economics Series Working Papers CSAE WPS/2008-19, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
    13. 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.
    14. Paul Clist, 2009. "25 Years of Aid Allocation Practice: Comparing Donors and Eras," Discussion Papers 09/11, University of Nottingham, CREDIT.
    15. Subhayu Bandyopadhyay & E. Katarina Vermann, 2013. "Donor motives for foreign aid," Review, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, vol. 95(July), pages 327-336.
    16. Wonjae Hwang & Jeeseon Hwang, 2023. "Health aid for states with dissimilar foreign policy preferences, a tool for peace?," International Area Studies Review, Center for International Area Studies, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, vol. 26(1), pages 55-70, March.
    17. Yasemin Bal Gündüz & Masyita Crystallin, 2018. "Do IMF programs catalyze donor assistance to low-income countries?," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 13(3), pages 359-393, September.
    18. World Bank, 2020. "Violence without Borders," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 33330, December.
    19. Herzer, Dierk & Nunnenkamp, Peter, 2012. "The effect of foreign aid on income inequality: Evidence from panel cointegration," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 23(3), pages 245-255.
    20. Stubbs, Thomas H. & Kentikelenis, Alexander E. & King, Lawrence P., 2016. "Catalyzing Aid? The IMF and Donor Behavior in Aid Allocation," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 511-528.
    21. Clist, Paul, 2011. "25Years of Aid Allocation Practice: Whither Selectivity?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 39(10), pages 1724-1734.

    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:unu:wpaper:wp-2013-075. 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: Siméon Rapin (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/widerfi.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.