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Multilateral and Bilateral Loans versus Grants: Issues and Evidence

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  • Matthew Odedokun

Abstract

This paper examines a wide range of issues relating to the mix between loans and grants as well as the degree of concessionality of loans. A number of empirical tests are carried out based on annual panel data over 1970 to 1999 for 22 donor countries and 72 recipient countries. Based on the tests, we observe that for bilateral donors, past grant‐loan mix (and, hence, reflows from past transfers) do not influence the volume of current resource transfers. Our tests also show that the rate of official borrowing by the recipients (and, by deduction, the extent of their past debt burden) is positively influenced by the extent of the concessionality of such loans – irrespective of whether it is in the form of subsidised interest rates or longer grace periods. The paper concludes with a review of the circumstances in which grants, soft loans and non‐concessional loans might have their respective comparative advantage, as well as a discussion of the need, so as to overcome the negative incentive problems of soft loans, for a typical concessional loan package to be separated into two constituent parts. This would enable the recipient to be given the grant component and the option to take from the non‐concessional loan component as much as desired.

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  • Matthew Odedokun, 2004. "Multilateral and Bilateral Loans versus Grants: Issues and Evidence," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(2), pages 239-263, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:worlde:v:27:y:2004:i:2:p:239-263
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9701.2004.00598.x
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    Cited by:

    1. Tim Harford & Michael Klein, 2005. "Grants or Loans? Development Finance and Incentive Effects," World Bank Publications - Reports 11230, The World Bank Group.
    2. Leanora Alecia Brown & Jorge Martinez-Vazquez, 2015. "International Debt Forgiveness: Who Gets Picked and Its Effect On The Tax Effort Of Developing Countries," International Center for Public Policy Working Paper Series, at AYSPS, GSU paper1504, International Center for Public Policy, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University.
    3. Daniel Cohen & Pierre Jacquet & Helmut Reisen, 2007. "Loans or Grants?," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 143(4), pages 764-782, December.
    4. Minasyan, Anna & Nunnenkamp, Peter, 2015. "Donors' openness to immigration and the effectiveness of foreign aid," Kiel Working Papers 1983, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    5. Thiele, Rainer & Nunnenkamp, Peter & Dreher, Axel, 2006. "Sectoral aid priorities: Are donors really doing their best to achieve the millennium development goals?," Kiel Working Papers 1266, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    6. Raechelle Mascarenhas & Todd Sandler, 2005. "Donors’ Mechanisms for Financing International and National Public Goods: Loans or Grants?," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(8), pages 1095-1117, August.
    7. Iimi, Atsushi & Ojima, Yasuhisa, 2008. "Complementarities between grants and loans," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 22(1), pages 109-141, March.
    8. Anna Minasyan & Peter Nunnenkamp, 2016. "Remittances and the Effectiveness of Foreign Aid," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 20(3), pages 681-701, August.
    9. Brech, Viktor & Potrafke, Niklas, 2014. "Donor ideology and types of foreign aid," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(1), pages 61-75.
    10. Hulya Ulku & Mr. Tito Cordella, 2004. "Grants Versus Loans," IMF Working Papers 2004/161, International Monetary Fund.
    11. Ugo PANIZZA, 2015. "Debt Sustainability in Low-Income Countries - The Grants versus Loans Debate in a World without Crystal Balls," Working Papers P120, FERDI.
    12. Axel Dreher & Peter Nunnenkamp & Rainer Thiele, 2008. "Does Aid for Education Educate Children? Evidence from Panel Data," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 22(2), pages 291-314, April.
    13. Dovern, Jonas & Nunnenkamp, Peter, 2006. "Aid and growth accelerations: An alternative approach to assess the effectiveness of aid," Kiel Working Papers 1296, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    14. Hiroyuki Hino & Atsushi Iimi, 2008. "Aid Effectiveness Revisited: Comparative Studies of Modalities of Aid to Asia and Africa," Discussion Paper Series 218, Research Institute for Economics & Business Administration, Kobe University.
    15. Gunatilake, H. & Fabella, R.V & Lagman-Martin, A., 2011. "Foreign Aid, Aid Effectiveness and the New Aid Paradigm: A Review," Sri Lankan Journal of Agricultural Economics, Sri Lanka Agricultural Economics Association (SAEA), vol. 12, pages 1-44.
    16. Narayan, Seema & Narayan, Paresh Kumar, 2024. "Clean energy for the Pacific Island countries: Does donor funding promote this transition?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
    17. Sherif M. Hassan, 2020. "Revisiting the Development Impact of Sectorally Disaggregated Foreign Aid," Poverty & Public Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 12(2), pages 123-149, June.
    18. Johansson, Pernilla, 2009. "Grants to needy countries? A study of aid composition between 1975 and 2005," Working Papers 2009:19, Lund University, Department of Economics.
    19. Elizabeth Asiedu & Boaz Nandwa, 2007. "On the Impact of Foreign Aid in Education on Growth: How Relevant Is the Heterogeneity of Aid Flows and the Heterogeneity of Aid Recipients?," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 143(4), pages 631-649, December.
    20. Berlinger, Edina & Juhász, Péter & Lovas, Anita, 2015. "Az állami támogatás hatása a projektfinanszírozásra erkölcsi kockázat és pozitív externáliák mellett. Szerződéselméleti megközelítés [The impact of state subsidy on project financing under moral ha," Közgazdasági Szemle (Economic Review - monthly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Közgazdasági Szemle Alapítvány (Economic Review Foundation), vol. 0(2), pages 139-171.
    21. Miss Nkunde Mwase, 2011. "Determinants of Development Financing Flows From Brazil, Russia, India, and China to Low-Income Countries," IMF Working Papers 2011/255, International Monetary Fund.
    22. Nunnenkamp, Peter & Thiele, Rainer & Wilfer, Tom, 2005. "Grants versus loans: Much ado about (almost) nothing," Kiel Economic Policy Papers 4, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    23. repec:zbw:ifwkie:3881 is not listed on IDEAS

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