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Will HIPC Matter? The Debt Game and Donor Behaviour in Africa

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  • Birdsall, Nancy
  • Diwan, Ishac
  • Claessens, Stijn

Abstract

In this Paper we focus on the question: Will the HIPC debt reduction program help in the transformation of the development assistance business and change the rules of the ?debt game? in Africa? We concentrate on the donor and official creditor side, by exploring how the growing debt of African countries, over the last two decades, has affected the provision of new resources by the donor community. Our results indicate, if debt levels are reduced sufficiently in high debt countries, that donors can shift from the current pattern of non-selectivity and defensive lending to a low debt regime ? a regime that has in the past allowed selectivity in lending in relation to levels of poverty and quality of policy.

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  • Birdsall, Nancy & Diwan, Ishac & Claessens, Stijn, 2002. "Will HIPC Matter? The Debt Game and Donor Behaviour in Africa," CEPR Discussion Papers 3297, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:3297
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    Cited by:

    1. Michaelowa, Katharina, 2003. "The Political Economy of the Enhanced HIPC-Initiative," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 114(3-4), pages 461-476, March.
    2. Freytag, Andreas & Pehnelt, Gernot, 2009. "Debt Relief and Governance Quality in Developing Countries," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 37(1), pages 62-80, January.
    3. Heylen, Fanny Heylen, 2010. "Analyzing the Poverty Impact of the Enhanced Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative in Bolivia," Revista Latinoamericana de Desarrollo Economico, Carrera de Economía de la Universidad Católica Boliviana (UCB) "San Pablo", issue 14, pages 71-106.
    4. Casamatta, Georges & Vellutini, Charles, 2008. "Clientelism and aid," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(2), pages 322-332, October.
    5. HEPP, Ralf, 2010. "CONSEQUENCES OF DEBT RELIEF INITIATIVES IN THE 1990s," Applied Econometrics and International Development, Euro-American Association of Economic Development, vol. 10(1).
    6. Jean-Claude Berthélemy, 2001. "HIPC Debt Relief and Policy Reform Incentives," WIDER Working Paper Series DP2001-105, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    7. Ratha, Dilip, 2001. "Complementarity between multilateral lending and private flows to developing countries : some empirical results," Policy Research Working Paper Series 2746, The World Bank.
    8. Geske Dijkstra & Niels Hermes, 2001. "The Uncertainty of Debt Service Payments and Economic Growth of HIPCs: Is there a Case for Debt Relief?," WIDER Working Paper Series DP2001-122, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    9. Ratha, Dilip, 2005. "Demand for World Bank lending," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 29(4), pages 408-421, December.
    10. Matteo Bobba & Andrew Powell, 2006. "Multilateral Intermediation of Foreign Aid: What is the Trade-Off for Donor Countries?," Research Department Publications 4500, Inter-American Development Bank, Research Department.
    11. Matteo Bobba & Andrew Powell, 2006. "Mediación multilateral de la ayuda extranjera," Research Department Publications 4501, Inter-American Development Bank, Research Department.
    12. Ugo Panizza, 2008. "The External Debt Contentious Six Years after the Monterrey Consensus," G-24 Discussion Papers 51, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Debt relief foreign aid; Low-income countries; International organizations;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F34 - International Economics - - International Finance - - - International Lending and Debt Problems
    • F35 - International Economics - - International Finance - - - Foreign Aid
    • O11 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Macroeconomic Analyses of Economic Development
    • O19 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - International Linkages to Development; Role of International Organizations

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