IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/hal/cesptp/halshs-00611901.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Improving aid effectiveness in aid-dependent countries : lessons from Zambia

Author

Listed:
  • Monica Beuran

    (CES - Centre d'économie de la Sorbonne - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, World Bank - LUNWB)

  • Gaël Raballand

    (World Bank - LUNWB)

  • Julio Revilla

    (World Bank - LUNWB)

Abstract

Zambia was a middle-income country when it achieved independence from Great Britain in 1964. After decades of international aid Zambia has become a low-income country, and its per capita GDP is only now returning to the levels it had reached over forty years ago. While aid is far from the only variable at work in Zambia's development, its impact has been questionable. This paper examines the issue of aid effectiveness in Zambia, especially in terms of how the incentive structure faced by donors may lead to decreased accountability and inadequate concern for long-term outcomes, rendering aid less beneficial. The paper concludes by proposing a revised approach to the provision and use of international aid in Zambia, as well as in other aid-dependent countries in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Suggested Citation

  • Monica Beuran & Gaël Raballand & Julio Revilla, 2011. "Improving aid effectiveness in aid-dependent countries : lessons from Zambia," Université Paris1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (Post-Print and Working Papers) halshs-00611901, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:cesptp:halshs-00611901
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://shs.hal.science/halshs-00611901
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://shs.hal.science/halshs-00611901/document
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. David Croix & Clara Delavallade, 2009. "Growth, public investment and corruption with failing institutions," Economics of Governance, Springer, vol. 10(3), pages 187-219, July.
    2. Acemoglu, Daron & Johnson, Simon & Robinson, James A., 2002. "An African Success Story: Botswana," CEPR Discussion Papers 3219, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    3. Ian Heggie, 1999. "Commercially managed road funds: managing roads like a business, not like a bureaucracy," Transportation, Springer, vol. 26(1), pages 87-111, February.
    4. David Dollar & Craig Burnside, 2000. "Aid, Policies, and Growth," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 90(4), pages 847-868, September.
    5. Henrik Hansen & Finn Tarp, 2000. "Aid effectiveness disputed," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 12(3), pages 375-398, April.
    6. Mr. Dhaneshwar Ghura & Mr. Michael T. Hadjimichael, 1995. "Growth in Sub-Saharan Africa," IMF Working Papers 1995/136, International Monetary Fund.
    7. Whitfield, Lindsay (ed.), 2008. "The Politics of Aid: African Strategies for Dealing with Donors," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199560172.
    8. Jan Willem GUNNING, 2008. "Aid Effectiveness: Can It Be Improved?," Working Papers P02, FERDI.
    9. Jayne, Thomas S. & Zulu, Ballard & Kajoba, Gear & Weber, Michael T., 2008. "Access to Land, and Poverty Reduction in Rural Zambia: Connecting the Policy Issues," Food Security Collaborative Working Papers 54493, Michigan State University, Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics.
    10. Hansen, Henrik & Tarp, Finn, 2001. "Aid and growth regressions," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(2), pages 547-570, April.
    11. Mosley, Paul & Hudson, John & Horrell, Sara, 1987. "Aid, the Public Sector and the Market in Less Developed Countries," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 97(387), pages 616-641, September.
    12. Boone, Peter, 1996. "Politics and the effectiveness of foreign aid," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 40(2), pages 289-329, February.
    13. 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.
    14. LaLonde, Robert J, 1986. "Evaluating the Econometric Evaluations of Training Programs with Experimental Data," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 76(4), pages 604-620, September.
    15. Steve Radelet, 2006. "A Primer on Foreign Aid," Working Papers 92, Center for Global Development.
    16. William Easterly & Ross Levine & David Roodman, 2003. "New Data, New Doubts: Revisiting "Aid, Policies, and Growth"," Working Papers 26, Center for Global Development.
    17. Marko Nokkala, 2001. "Simulating the Effects of Debt Relief in Zambia," WIDER Working Paper Series DP2001-118, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    18. William Easterly, 2009. "Can the West Save Africa?," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 47(2), pages 373-447, June.
    19. Svensson, Jakob, 2000. "Foreign aid and rent-seeking," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(2), pages 437-461, August.
    20. 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.
    21. William Easterly & Ross Levine & David Roodman, 2003. "New Data, New doubts: A Comment on Burnside and Dollar's "Aid, Policies, and Growth" (2000)," NBER Working Papers 9846, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    22. World Bank, 2003. "Zambia - Public Expenditure Management and Financial Accountability Review : Country Financial Accountability Assessment, Annex, Volume 2," World Bank Publications - Reports 14656, The World Bank Group.
    23. Ritva Reinikka & Jakob Svensson, 2004. "Local Capture: Evidence from a Central Government Transfer Program in Uganda," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 119(2), pages 679-705.
    24. William Easterly, 2003. "Can Foreign Aid Buy Growth?," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 17(3), pages 23-48, Summer.
    25. McCleary, William, 1989. "Earmarking government revenues : does it work ?," Policy Research Working Paper Series 322, The World Bank.
    26. Svensson, Jakob, 2003. "Why conditional aid does not work and what can be done about it?," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(2), pages 381-402, April.
    27. World Bank, 2003. "Zambia : Public Expenditure Management and Financial Accountability Review," World Bank Publications - Reports 14695, The World Bank Group.
    28. Brautigam, Deborah A & Knack, Stephen, 2004. "Foreign Aid, Institutions, and Governance in Sub-Saharan Africa," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 52(2), pages 255-285, January.
    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. Monica Beuran & Gaël Raballand & Julio Revilla, 2011. "Improving Aid Effectiveness in Aid-Dependent Countries: Lessons from Zambia," Documents de travail du Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne 11040, Université Panthéon-Sorbonne (Paris 1), Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne.
    2. Temple, Jonathan R.W., 2010. "Aid and Conditionality," Handbook of Development Economics, in: Dani Rodrik & Mark Rosenzweig (ed.), Handbook of Development Economics, edition 1, volume 5, chapter 0, pages 4415-4523, Elsevier.
    3. 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.
    4. Almuth Scholl, 2009. "Aid Effectiveness and Limited Enforceable Conditionality," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 12(2), pages 377-391, April.
    5. Simeon Djankov & Jose Montalvo & Marta Reynal-Querol, 2008. "The curse of aid," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 13(3), pages 169-194, September.
    6. Angeles, Luis & Neanidis, Kyriakos C., 2009. "Aid effectiveness: the role of the local elite," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(1), pages 120-134, September.
    7. Mina Baliamoune‐Lutz & George Mavrotas, 2009. "Aid Effectiveness: Looking at the Aid–Social Capital–Growth Nexus," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 13(3), pages 510-525, August.
    8. Mina Baliamoune-Lutz, 2012. "Do Institutions And Social Cohesion Enhance The Effectiveness Of Aid? New Evidence From Africa," Journal of International Commerce, Economics and Policy (JICEP), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 3(01), pages 1-19.
    9. Boriana Yontcheva & Mrs. Nadia Masud, 2005. "Does Foreign Aid Reduce Poverty? Empirical Evidence from Nongovernmental and Bilateral Aid," IMF Working Papers 2005/100, International Monetary Fund.
    10. Innocent .U. Duru & Bartholomew .O.N. Okafor & Millicent Adanne Eze & Gabriel .O. Ebenyi, 2020. "Foreign Aid and Economic Growth: Empirical Evidence from Nigeria," Growth, Asian Online Journal Publishing Group, vol. 7(1), pages 35-50.
    11. Jean-François Ruhashyankiko, 2005. "Why Do Some Countries Manage to Extract Growth from Foreign Aid?," IMF Working Papers 2005/053, International Monetary Fund.
    12. repec:hum:wpaper:sfb649dp2005-054 is not listed on IDEAS
    13. Michael Clemens & Steven Radelet & Rikhil Bhavnani, 2004. "Counting Chickens When They Hatch: The Short-term Effect of Aid on Growth," Working Papers 44, Center for Global Development.
    14. Philipp Harms & Matthias Lutz, 2004. "The Macroeconomic Effects of Foreign Aid: A Survey," University of St. Gallen Department of Economics working paper series 2004 2004-11, Department of Economics, University of St. Gallen.
    15. Lessmann, Christian & Markwardt, Gunther, 2012. "Aid, Growth and Devolution," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 40(9), pages 1723-1749.
    16. Ralf Hepp, 2005. "Health Expenditures Under the HIPC Debt Initiative," International Finance 0510005, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    17. Juergen Bitzer & Erkan Goeren, 2018. "Foreign Aid and Subnational Development: A Grid Cell Analysis," Working Papers V-407-18, University of Oldenburg, Department of Economics, revised Mar 2018.
    18. Kilby, Christopher, 2005. "World Bank lending and regulation," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 29(4), pages 384-407, December.
    19. Mark McGillivray, 2006. "Aid Allocation and Fragile States," WIDER Working Paper Series DP2006-01, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    20. Roland Hodler & David S. Knight, 2012. "Ethnic Fractionalisation and Aid Effectiveness," Journal of African Economies, Centre for the Study of African Economies, vol. 21(1), pages 65-93, January.
    21. Carl-Johan Dalgaard & Henrik Hansen & Finn Tarp, 2004. "On The Empirics of Foreign Aid and Growth," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 114(496), pages 191-216, June.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Aid effectiveness; Zambia; donors; projects; aid incentives.; Efficacité de l'aide; Zambie; bailleurs de fonds; projets; motivations de l'aide.;
    All these keywords.

    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:hal:cesptp:halshs-00611901. 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: CCSD (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/ .

    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.