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The Rise (and Decline?) of Arab Aid: Generosity and Allocation in the Oil Era

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  • Shushan, Debra
  • Marcoux, Christopher

Abstract

Among non-DAC donors, wealthy Arab states are some of the most prolific contributors of foreign aid. Despite this, relatively little is known about Arab foreign aid. The OECD development database offers a paucity of information, aggregating data for “Arab countries” and “Arab agencies,” without identifying the constituent units of either. A further complication is that Arab donors are not uniformly transparent about their aid efforts, publicizing some of them while keeping other donations secret. In this paper, we advance the state of knowledge of Arab foreign aid in a number of ways. We use AidData to document the trends in reported donations from specific bilateral donors (Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates) and multilateral agencies (Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development, Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa, OPEC’s Fund for International Development, and the Islamic Development Bank). Notably, Arab bilateral donors have given less generously over time with aid levels remaining relatively stable despite skyrocketing national wealth. We explore reasons for this decline, including that Arab donors have: shifted their giving from bilateral to multilateral channels, given less as DAC donors have given more, and increased domestic spending at the expense of foreign aid with a view to safeguarding regime security. In addition, we look at the sectoral allocations of Arab bilateral and multilateral organizations, and compare the aid practices of Arab donors to their DAC counterparts. Finally, we suggest why an exclusive focus on aid commitments is problematic where Arab aid is concerned.

Suggested Citation

  • Shushan, Debra & Marcoux, Christopher, 2011. "The Rise (and Decline?) of Arab Aid: Generosity and Allocation in the Oil Era," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 39(11), pages 1969-1980.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:39:y:2011:i:11:p:1969-1980
    DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2011.07.025
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Eric Neumayer, 2003. "What Factors Determine the Allocation of Aid by Arab Countries and Multilateral Agencies?," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(4), pages 134-147.
    2. Eric Neumayer, 2004. "Arab‐related Bilateral and Multilateral Sources of Development Finance: Issues, Trends, and the Way Forward," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(2), pages 281-300, February.
    3. Mr. P. van den Boogaerde, 1991. "Financial Assistance from Arab Countries and Arab Regional Institutions," IMF Occasional Papers 1991/012, International Monetary Fund.
    4. AfDB AfDB, . "AfDB Group Annual Report 2007," Annual Report, African Development Bank, number 63 edited by Koua Louis Kouakou.
    5. R. S. Porter, 1986. "Arab Economic Aid," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 4(1), pages 44-68, March.
    6. World Bank, 2010. "World Development Indicators 2010," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 4373.
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    2. Hernandez, Diego & Vadlamannati, Krishna Chaitanya, 2017. "Politics of religiously motivated lending: An empirical analysis of aid allocation by the Islamic Development Bank," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 45(4), pages 910-929.
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    4. Miles Kellerman, 2019. "The proliferation of multilateral development banks," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 14(1), pages 107-145, March.
    5. Hernandez , Diego & Vadlamannati , Krishna Chaitanya, 2014. "Politics of Religiously Motivated Lending: An Empirical Analysis of Aid Allocation by the Islamic Development Bank," Working Papers 0570, University of Heidelberg, Department of Economics.

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