IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eme/ijdipp/v10y2011i3p204-213.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Growth effect of foreign aid and volatility in South Asia

Author

Listed:
  • T. Bhavan
  • Changsheng Xu
  • Chunping Zhong

Abstract

Purpose - South Asia has been an important destination of foreign aid over the past decades. Since a large part of aid is disbursed for social and economic infrastructure development in South Asian countries, and the volume of aid has tremendously increased in recent years, the purpose of this study is to investigate how far various categories of foreign aid affects economic growth rate in these countries. In addition, as the trend of each category of aid transfer appears to have been volatile, this study also investigates whether the volatilities inhibit growth rate in these countries. Design/methodology/approach - In this study, South Asia refers to India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The Random effects approach is employed incorporating panel data for the period of 1995‐2008. The aggregate foreign aid is classified into various categories to have a comprehensive investigation. Findings - Foreign aid positively associated with growth whereas the volatility of aid hurts it. Long‐impact aid promotes growth more than short‐impact aid does. The volatility of short‐impact aid hurts growth, whereas the volatility of long‐impact aid has no effect on it. Pure aid and its volatility have no effect on growth. Originality/value - This study has identified the structure of foreign aid disbursed in these countries, and explored how far each category and respective volatility affects growth. These findings would be useful to the scholars and policy makers in the recipient countries as well as donors, to make foreign aid much more effective in future.

Suggested Citation

  • T. Bhavan & Changsheng Xu & Chunping Zhong, 2011. "Growth effect of foreign aid and volatility in South Asia," International Journal of Development Issues, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 10(3), pages 204-213, September.
  • Handle: RePEc:eme:ijdipp:v:10:y:2011:i:3:p:204-213
    DOI: 10.1108/14468951111165340
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/14468951111165340/full/html?utm_source=repec&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=repec
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers

    File URL: https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/14468951111165340/full/pdf?utm_source=repec&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=repec
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1108/14468951111165340?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. C-J. Dalgaard & H. Hansen, 2001. "On Aid, Growth and Good Policies," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(6), pages 17-41.
    2. M. Ugur Karakaplan & Bilin Neyapti & Selin Sayek, 2005. "Aid and Foreign Direct Investment : International Evidence," Working Papers 0505, Department of Economics, Bilkent University.
    3. Minoiu, Camelia & Reddy, Sanjay G., 2010. "Development aid and economic growth: A positive long-run relation," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 50(1), pages 27-39, February.
    4. Henrik Hansen & Finn Tarp, 2000. "Aid effectiveness disputed," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 12(3), pages 375-398, April.
    5. Kang Yong Tan, 2009. "A pooled mean group analysis on aid and growth," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(16), pages 1597-1601.
    6. Michael A. Clemens & Steven Radelet & Rikhil Bhavnani, 2004. "Counting chickens when they hatch: The short-term effect of aid on growth," International Finance 0407010, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    7. Arellano, Cristina & Bulír, Ales & Lane, Timothy & Lipschitz, Leslie, 2009. "The dynamic implications of foreign aid and its variability," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(1), pages 87-102, January.
    8. Asiedu, Elizabeth & Jin, Yi & Nandwa, Boaz, 2009. "Does foreign aid mitigate the adverse effect of expropriation risk on foreign direct investment?," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(2), pages 268-275, July.
    9. Kilby, Christopher, 2010. "Special focus: Foreign aid," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 50(1), pages 1-2, February.
    10. Selaya, Pablo & Sunesen, Eva Rytter, 2012. "Does Foreign Aid Increase Foreign Direct Investment?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 40(11), pages 2155-2176.
    11. Oliver Morrissey, & Olaf Islei, & Daniel M'Amanja, 2006. "Aid Loans versus Aid Grants: Are the Effects Different?," Discussion Papers 06/07, University of Nottingham, CREDIT.
    12. Rukmani Gounder, 2001. "Aid-growth nexus: empirical evidence from Fiji," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 33(8), pages 1009-1019.
    13. Kimura, Hidemi & Todo, Yasuyuki, 2010. "Is Foreign Aid a Vanguard of Foreign Direct Investment? A Gravity-Equation Approach," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 38(4), pages 482-497, April.
    14. Chauvet, Lisa, 2003. "Socio-political instability and the allocation of international aid by donors," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 19(1), pages 33-59, March.
    15. Mark McGillivray & Simon Feeny & Niels Hermes & Robert Lensink, 2006. "Controversies over the impact of development aid: it works; it doesn't; it can, but that depends …," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 18(7), pages 1031-1050.
    16. Ouattara, B., 2006. "Foreign aid and government fiscal behaviour in developing countries: Panel data evidence," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 23(3), pages 506-514, May.
    17. Hristos Doucouliagos & Martin Paldam, 2005. "Aid Effectiveness on Growth. A Meta Study," Economics Working Papers 2005-13, Department of Economics and Business Economics, Aarhus University.
    18. Hudson, John & Mosley, Paul, 2008. "The macroeconomic impact of aid volatility," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 99(3), pages 486-489, June.
    19. Egger, Peter, 2000. "A note on the proper econometric specification of the gravity equation," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 66(1), pages 25-31, January.
    20. Neanidis, Kyriakos C. & Varvarigos, Dimitrios, 2009. "The allocation of volatile aid and economic growth: Theory and evidence," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 25(4), pages 447-462, December.
    21. Mark McGillivray & Bazoumana Ouattara, 2005. "Aid, Debt Burden and Government Fiscal Behaviour in Côte d'Ivoire," Journal of African Economies, Centre for the Study of African Economies, vol. 14(2), pages 247-269, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Md Ismail Hossain & Md Istiak Hossain & Mollah Aminul Islam & Md Reza Sultanuzzaman, 2022. "Does Foreign Aid Have an Expected Role in the Economic Growth of Bangladesh? An Analysis in ARDL Approach," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 12(6), pages 113-126, November.
    2. D. Tripati Rao & Narayan Sethi & Devi Prasad Dash & Padmaja Bhujabal, 2023. "Foreign Aid, FDI and Economic Growth in South-East Asia and South Asia," Global Business Review, International Management Institute, vol. 24(1), pages 31-47, February.
    3. Nuruddeen USMAN & Martins.O. APINRAN, 2019. "The Impact of Aid and Macroeconomic Policy on Growth in Nigeria: A Bounds Testing Approach," Asian Economic and Financial Review, Asian Economic and Social Society, vol. 9(5), pages 581-603, May.
    4. Moheddine Younsi & Marwa Bechtini & Hasna Khemili, 2021. "The effects of foreign aid, foreign direct investment and domestic investment on economic growth in African countries: Nonlinearities and complementarities," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 33(1), pages 55-66, March.

    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. Donaubauer, Julian & Herzer, Dierk & Nunnenkamp, Peter, 2012. "Does aid for education attract foreign investors? An empirical analysis for Latin America," Kiel Working Papers 1806, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    2. Bhavan, T. & Xu, Changsheng & Zhong, Chunping, 2010. "Growth effect of aid and its volatility: An individual country study in South Asian economies," Business and Economic Horizons (BEH), Prague Development Center (PRADEC), vol. 3(3), pages 1-9, October.
    3. Garriga, Ana Carolina & Phillips, Brian John, 2014. "Foreign Aid as a Signal to Investors: Predicting FDI in Post-Conflict Countries," MPRA Paper 88643, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. T.Bhavan, 2014. "Effectiveness of Foreign Aid in Facilitating Foreign Direct Investment: Evidence from Four South Asian Countries," Asian Economic and Financial Review, Asian Economic and Social Society, vol. 4(12), pages 1770-1783, December.
    5. Annageldy Arazmuradov, 2012. "Foreign Aid, Foreign Direct Investment, and Domestic Investment Nexus in Landlocked Economies of Central Asia," Economic Research Guardian, Weissberg Publishing, vol. 2(1), pages 129-151, May.
    6. Patrick Guillaumont, 2011. "Aid effectiveness for poverty reduction:macroeconomic overview and emerging issues," CERDI Working papers halshs-00554285, HAL.
    7. Muhammad Javid & Abdul Qayyum, 2011. "Foreign Aid and Growth Nexus in Pakistan: The Role of Macroeconomic Policies," PIDE-Working Papers 2011:72, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics.
    8. Patrick GUILLAUMONT, 2009. "Aid effectiveness for poverty reduction: macroeconomic overview and emerging issues," Working Papers P05, FERDI.
    9. Tony Addison & George Mavrotas & Mark McGillivray, 2005. "Development assistance and development finance: evidence and global policy agendas," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 17(6), pages 819-836.
    10. Hudson, John, 2015. "Consequences of Aid Volatility for Macroeconomic Management and Aid Effectiveness," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 62-74.
    11. Tony Addison & George Mavrotas & Mark McGillivray, 2005. "Aid, Debt Relief and New Sources of Finance for Meeting the Millennium Development Goals," WIDER Working Paper Series RP2005-09, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    12. Patrick Guillaumont & Laurent Wagner, 2014. "Aid Effectiveness for Poverty Reduction: Lessons from Cross‑country Analyses, with a Special Focus on Vulnerable Countries," Revue d’économie du développement, De Boeck Université, vol. 22(HS01), pages 217-261.
    13. Annageldy Arazmuradov, 2015. "Can Development Aid Help Promote Foreign Direct Investment? Evidence from Central Asia," Economic Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(1), pages 123-136, February.
    14. Sarantis Kalyvitis & Thanasis Stengos & Irene Vlachaki, 2012. "Are Aid Flows Excessive or Insufficient? Estimating the Growth Impact of Aid in Threshold Regressions," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 59(3), pages 298-315, July.
    15. Olufemi Adewale Aluko, 2020. "The foreign aid–foreign direct investment relationship in Africa: The mediating role of institutional quality and financial development," Economic Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(1), pages 77-84, February.
    16. Brun, Jean-François & Gnangnon, Sèna Kimm, 2017. "Does trade openness contribute to driving financing flows for development?," WTO Staff Working Papers ERSD-2017-06, World Trade Organization (WTO), Economic Research and Statistics Division.
    17. D. Tripati Rao & Narayan Sethi & Devi Prasad Dash & Padmaja Bhujabal, 2023. "Foreign Aid, FDI and Economic Growth in South-East Asia and South Asia," Global Business Review, International Management Institute, vol. 24(1), pages 31-47, February.
    18. Ferreira, I.A.R. & Simoes, M.C.N., 2013. "Aid And Growth: A Comparative Study Between Sub-Saharan Africa And Asia," Applied Econometrics and International Development, Euro-American Association of Economic Development, vol. 13(1), pages 113-132.
    19. Liao, Hongwei & Chi, Yedi & Zhang, Jiarui, 2020. "Impact of international development aid on FDI along the Belt and Road," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    20. Geetilaxmi MOHAPATRA & A. K. GIRI & Madhu SEHRAWAT, 2016. "Foreign aid, macroeconomic policies and economic growth nexus in India: An ARDL bounds testing approach," Theoretical and Applied Economics, Asociatia Generala a Economistilor din Romania - AGER, vol. 0(4(609), W), pages 183-202, Winter.

    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:eme:ijdipp:v:10:y:2011:i:3:p:204-213. 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: Emerald Support (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    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.