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Modelling Aid Allocation: Issues, Approaches And Results

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  • Mark McGillivray

    (World Institute for Development Economics Research)

Abstract

There is a widespread view that political criteria have received less emphasis in aid allocation since the end of the cold war, with a greater share of aid subsequently being based on developmental criteria. An observed increase in aid effectiveness is attributed to this shift. A reasonably large literature on aid allocation supports this view: a number of influential, widely cited studies conclude that developmental criteria played no role in the 1970s and 1980s inter-recipient aid allocation. This paper argues that the shift is not as significant as commonly thought. It points to a number of methodological weaknesses in the dominant modelling approach used within the literature, showing that more rigorous econometric methods suggest that developmental criteria have had a larger influence on cold war period aid allocation than previously thought. An alternative interpretation of the observed increase in aid effectiveness is provided.

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  • Mark McGillivray, 2003. "Modelling Aid Allocation: Issues, Approaches And Results," Journal of Economic Development, Chung-Ang Unviersity, Department of Economics, vol. 28(1), pages 171-188, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:jed:journl:v:28:y:2003:i:1:p:171-188
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    Cited by:

    1. Kafayat Amusa & Nara Monkam & Nicola Viegi, 2016. "The Political and Economic Dynamics of Foreign Aid: A Case Study of United States and Chinese Aid to Sub-Sahara Africa," Working Papers 201628, University of Pretoria, Department of Economics.
    2. Balla, Eliana & Reinhardt, Gina Yannitell, 2008. "Giving and Receiving Foreign Aid: Does Conflict Count?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 36(12), pages 2566-2585, December.
    3. Roland Kangni KPODAR & Maëlan LE GOFF, 2012. "Do Remittances Reduce Aid Dependency?," Working Papers P34, FERDI.
    4. Jane Harrigan, 2011. "The Political Economy of Aid Flows to North Africa," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2011-072, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    5. Balázs Szent-Iványi, 2015. "Are Democratising Countries Rewarded with Higher Levels of Foreign Aid?," Acta Oeconomica, Akadémiai Kiadó, Hungary, vol. 65(4), pages 593-615, December.
    6. Udvari, Beáta & Dávid Kiss, Gábor & Pontet, Julianna, 2016. "Challenges of Missing Data in Analyses of Aid Activity: The Case of US Aid Activity," Bangladesh Development Studies, Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS), vol. 39(1-2), pages 1-25, March-Jun.
    7. Muhammad Azam & Yi Feng, 2022. "Does foreign aid stimulate economic growth in developing countries? Further evidence in both aggregate and disaggregated samples," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 56(2), pages 533-556, April.
    8. Eric Neumayer, 2005. "Is the Allocation of Food Aid Free from Donor Interest Bias?," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 41(3), pages 394-411.
    9. Michael Mitchell Omoruyi Ehizuelen & Meibo Huang, 2016. "Fostering Economic Development: Is External Finance Responsible for the Poor Economic Growth in Sub-Saharan Africa?," Global Economy Journal, De Gruyter, vol. 16(2), pages 313-347, June.
    10. Clist, Paul, 2011. "25Years of Aid Allocation Practice: Whither Selectivity?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 39(10), pages 1724-1734.
    11. Dollar, David & Levin, Victoria, 2006. "The Increasing Selectivity of Foreign Aid, 1984-2003," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 34(12), pages 2034-2046, December.
    12. Paul Clist, 2009. "25 Years of Aid Allocation Practice: Comparing Donors and Eras," Discussion Papers 09/11, University of Nottingham, CREDIT.
    13. Youngwan Kim & Sang-Hwan Lee & Young Jun Cho, 2023. "Donor motivation in the era of the COVID-19 crisis: Focusing on South Korean health diplomacy and response aid to COVID-19," International Area Studies Review, Center for International Area Studies, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, vol. 26(1), pages 71-86, March.
    14. Barthel, Fabian & Neumayer, Eric & Nunnenkamp, Peter & Selaya, Pablo, 2014. "Competition for Export Markets and the Allocation of Foreign Aid: The Role of Spatial Dependence among Donor Countries," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 350-365.
    15. Aurore Gary & Mathilde Maurel, 2015. "Donors’ Policy Consistency and Economic Growth," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 68(4), pages 511-551, November.
    16. Cogneau, Denis & Naudet, Jean-David, 2007. "Who Deserves Aid? Equality of Opportunity, International Aid, and Poverty Reduction," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 35(1), pages 104-120, January.
    17. Jaromír Harmáček & Miroslav Syrovátka & Zdeněk Opršal, 2017. "Analýza faktorů selekce a alokace české rozvojové pomoci s využitím panelových dat a metod Probit a Tobit [Factors of Czech Aid Selection and Allocation: Panel Probit and Tobit Analysis]," Politická ekonomie, Prague University of Economics and Business, vol. 2017(2), pages 179-197.
    18. Czaika, Mathias & Mayer, Amy, 2007. "Burden-sharing or migration management?," Proceedings of the German Development Economics Conference, Göttingen 2007 3, Verein für Socialpolitik, Research Committee Development Economics.
    19. Guillon, Marlène & Mathonnat, Jacky, 2020. "What can we learn on Chinese aid allocation motivations from available data? A sectorial analysis of Chinese aid to African countries," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    20. Harrigan, Jane & Wang, Chengang, 2011. "A New Approach to the Allocation of Aid Among Developing Countries: Is the USA Different from the Rest?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 39(8), pages 1281-1293, August.
    21. Abrams M E Tagem, 2017. "Analysing the determinants of health aid allocation in sub-Saharan Africa," Discussion Papers 2017-09, University of Nottingham, CREDIT.
    22. Fumitaka Furuoka, 2017. "Determinants of China's and Japan's Foreign Aid Allocations in Africa," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 29(3), pages 376-388, September.
    23. Marlène Guillon & Jacky Mathonnat, 2019. "What can we learn on Chinese aid allocation motivations from available data ? A sectorial analysis of Chinese aid to African countries," Post-Print hal-02005784, HAL.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Aid Allocation; Donor Interest; Recipient Need; Tobit Models; Regression;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F34 - International Economics - - International Finance - - - International Lending and Debt Problems
    • C24 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Truncated and Censored Models; Switching Regression Models; Threshold Regression Models
    • C21 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Cross-Sectional Models; Spatial Models; Treatment Effect Models
    • C12 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods and Methodology: General - - - Hypothesis Testing: General
    • I31 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General Welfare, Well-Being

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