IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/padxxx/v43y2023i4p293-308.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Using foreign aid contracts to pursue participatory approaches to development within large foreign aid agencies

Author

Listed:
  • Amy Beck Harris

Abstract

Participatory development has become, ‘development orthodoxy’, receiving widespread proclamations of support from foreign aid agencies. Participatory development engages international development beneficiaries in making decisions about project activity selection and design. Yet, many foreign aid donors deliver project assistance through top‐down, highly controlled systems that may constrain the flexibility needed to delegate decision‐making power to project beneficiaries. This paper explores whether and under which conditions these foreign aid agencies delegate decision‐making power to project beneficiaries, focusing on the key mechanism for delivering foreign aid: government contracts. The analysis relies on a novel dataset of U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) projects that incorporates contract specifications for beneficiary decision‐making during project implementation. Despite an expectation that delivery system constraints would prohibitively exclude contract specifications for beneficiary decision‐making, donors are found to commonly use contracts to delegate decision‐making power to beneficiaries, but within pre‐determined parameters. The results suggest that USAID is using contract specifications to engage in bounded delegation, providing some decision‐making power to beneficiaries, but using boundaries to ensure the right ‘fit’ with institutional goals and constraints. By focusing on contract specifications and variation within these specifications, this study identifies widespread use of a ‘middle ground’ in how donors motivate participatory development.

Suggested Citation

  • Amy Beck Harris, 2023. "Using foreign aid contracts to pursue participatory approaches to development within large foreign aid agencies," Public Administration & Development, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 43(4), pages 293-308, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:padxxx:v:43:y:2023:i:4:p:293-308
    DOI: 10.1002/pad.2024
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/pad.2024
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/pad.2024?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
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Bajari, Patrick & Tadelis, Steven, 2001. "Incentives versus Transaction Costs: A Theory of Procurement Contracts," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 32(3), pages 387-407, Autumn.
    2. Erin Anderson & Hubert Gatignon, 1986. "Modes of Foreign Entry: A Transaction Cost Analysis and Propositions," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 17(3), pages 1-26, September.
    3. Pritchett, Lant & Woolcock, Michael, 2004. "Solutions When the Solution is the Problem: Arraying the Disarray in Development," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 32(2), pages 191-212, February.
    4. Martens,Bertin & Mummert,Uwe & Murrell,Peter & Seabright,Paul, 2008. "The Institutional Economics of Foreign Aid," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521055390, December.
    5. Axel Dreher & Sarah Langlotz & Silvia Marchesi, 2017. "Information Transmission And Ownership Consolidation In Aid Programs," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 55(4), pages 1671-1688, October.
    6. Barro, Robert J & Lee, Jong-Wha, 2001. "International Data on Educational Attainment: Updates and Implications," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 53(3), pages 541-563, July.
    7. Ghazala Mansuri & Vijayendra Rao, 2013. "Localizing Development : Does Participation Work?," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 11859, March.
    8. Susan M. Roberts, 2014. "Development Capital: USAID and the Rise of Development Contractors," Annals of the American Association of Geographers, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 104(5), pages 1030-1051, September.
    9. Trevor L. Brown & Matthew Potoski, 2003. "Managing contract performance: A transaction costs approach," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 22(2), pages 275-297.
    10. Frances Cleaver, 1999. "Paradoxes of participation: questioning participatory approaches to development," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 11(4), pages 597-612.
    11. Avdeenko, Alexandra & Gilligan, Michael J., 2015. "International Interventions to Build Social Capital: Evidence from a Field Experiment in Sudan," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 109(3), pages 427-449, August.
    12. Cornwall, Andrea, 2003. "Whose Voices? Whose Choices? Reflections on Gender and Participatory Development," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 31(8), pages 1325-1342, August.
    13. Dan Honig & Nilima Gulrajani, 2018. "Making good on donors’ desire to Do Development Differently," Third World Quarterly, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(1), pages 68-84, January.
    14. Dietrich, Simone, 2016. "Donor Political Economies and the Pursuit of Aid Effectiveness," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 70(1), pages 65-102, January.
    15. Gulrajani, Nilima, 2017. "Bilateral Donors and the Age of the National Interest: What Prospects for Challenge by Development Agencies?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 375-389.
    16. Shin, Wonkyu & Kim, Youngwan & Sohn, Hyuk-Sang, 2017. "Do Different Implementing Partnerships Lead to Different Project Outcomes? Evidence from the World Bank Project-Level Evaluation Data," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 268-284.
    17. H. Brinton Milward & Keith Provan, 2003. "Managing the hollow state Collaboration and contracting," Public Management Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 5(1), pages 1-18, March.
    18. Gibson, Clark C. & Andersson, Krister & Ostrom, The late Elinor & Shivakumar, Sujai, 2005. "The Samaritan's Dilemma: The Political Economy of Development Aid," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199278855, Decembrie.
    19. Biggs, Stephen & Smith, Sally, 2003. "A Paradox of Learning in Project Cycle Management and the Role of Organizational Culture," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 31(10), pages 1743-1757, October.
    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. Malin Hasselskog, 2020. "What happens to local participation when national ownership gets stronger? Initiating an exploration in Rwanda and Cambodia," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 38(S1), pages 91-111, May.
    2. Susanna P. Campbell & Aila M. Matanock, 2024. "Weapons of the weak state: How post-conflict states shape international statebuilding," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 19(3), pages 469-513, September.
    3. Jusrut, Poonam, 2022. "Localization of elite capture in wood charcoal production and trade: Implications for development outcomes of a forest management program in rural Senegal," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 135(C).
    4. Ghazala Mansuri, 2004. "Community-Based and -Driven Development: A Critical Review," The World Bank Research Observer, World Bank, vol. 19(1), pages 1-39.
    5. Brendan Whitty & Jessica Sklair & Paul Robert Gilbert & Emma Mawdsley & Jo‐Anna Russon & Olivia Taylor, 2023. "Outsourcing the Business of Development: The Rise of For‐profit Consultancies in the UK Aid Sector," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 54(4), pages 892-917, July.
    6. Hermano, Víctor & Martín-Cruz, Natalia, 2013. "How to Deliver Foreign Aid? The Case of Projects Governed by the Spanish International Agency," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 298-314.
    7. Elinor Ostrom, 2014. "Do institutions for collective action evolve?," Journal of Bioeconomics, Springer, vol. 16(1), pages 3-30, April.
    8. Gugerty, Mary Kay & Mitchell, George E. & Santamarina, Francisco J., 2021. "Discourses of evaluation: Institutional logics and organizational practices among international development agencies," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 146(C).
    9. Silvia Marchesi & Tania Masi, 2019. "Allocation of Implementing Power: Evidence from World Bank Projects," Development Working Papers 447, Centro Studi Luca d'Agliano, University of Milano.
    10. van der Windt, Peter Cornelis & Humphreys, Macartan & Medina, Lily & Timmons, Jeffrey & Voors, Maarten, 2020. "Citizen Attitudes towards Traditional and State Authorities: Substitutes or Complements?," SocArXiv j9e57_v1, Center for Open Science.
    11. Barr, Abigail & Owens, Trudy & Perera, Ashira, 2020. "Collective management of an environmental threat when exposure is heterogeneous – A complementary methods approach," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 135(C).
    12. Ardanaz, Martín & Otálvaro-Ramírez, Susana & Scartascini, Carlos, 2022. "Does Citizen Participation in Budget Allocation Pay? A Survey Experiment on Political Trust and Participatory Governance," IDB Publications (Working Papers) 12256, Inter-American Development Bank.
    13. Nguyen, Tu Chi & Rieger, Matthias, 2017. "Community-Driven Development and Social Capital: Evidence from Morocco," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 28-52.
    14. Alice Iannantuoni & Charla Waeiss & Matthew S. Winters, 2021. "Project design decisions of egalitarian and non-egalitarian international organizations: Evidence from the Global Environment Facility and the World Bank," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 16(2), pages 431-462, April.
    15. Gulrajani, Nilima, 2010. "Challenging global accountability: the intersection of contracts and culture in the World Bank," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 30045, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    16. Giuseppe Cinquegrana & Serena Migliardo & Domenico Sarno, 2016. "Comparative analysis of private and public provision of the water and waste services by the Italian municipalities," ECONOMIA PUBBLICA, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2016(3), pages 149-176.
    17. Ashoff, Guido, 2015. "Die Global Governance-Qualität der internationalen Aid Effectiveness Agenda: eine theoretische Analyse und Bewertung der Systemreform der internationalen Entwicklungszusammenarbeit," IDOS Studies, German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS), volume 87, number 87, March.
    18. John‐Michael Davis & Yaakov Garb, 2019. "Participatory shaping of community futures in e‐waste processing hubs: Complexity, conflict and stewarded convergence in a Palestinian context," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 37(1), pages 67-89, January.
    19. Rebecca Nixon & Francis Owusu, 2017. "Choice, Inclusion, and Access to Information: Understanding Female Farmers’ Participation in Kyrgyzstan’s Water-User Associations," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(12), pages 1-15, December.
    20. Silvia Marchesi & Tania Masi, 2021. "Delegation of implementation in project aid," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 16(3), pages 655-687, July.

    More about this item

    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:wly:padxxx:v:43:y:2023:i:4:p:293-308. 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: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0271-2075 .

    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.