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Aid and Government Fiscal Behaviour: What Does the Evidence Say?

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  • Oliver Morrissey

Abstract

Donors are concerned about how their aid is used, especially how it affects fiscal behaviour by recipient governments. This study reviews the recent evidence on the effects of aid on government spending and tax effort in recipient countries, concluding with a discussion of when (general) budget support is a fiscally efficient aid modality. Severe data limitations restrict inferences on the relationship between aid and spending, especially as the government is not aware of all the aid available to finance the provision of public goods.

Suggested Citation

  • Oliver Morrissey, 2012. "Aid and Government Fiscal Behaviour: What Does the Evidence Say?," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2012-001, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    • Handle: RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp-2012-001
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    File URL: https://www.wider.unu.edu/sites/default/files/WP%202012-01.pdf
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    15. Gomanee, Karuna & Morrissey, Oliver & Mosley, Paul & Verschoor, Arjan, 2005. "Aid, Government Expenditure, and Aggregate Welfare," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 33(3), pages 355-370, March.
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    Cited by:

    1. Simplice A. Asongu, Nicholas M. Odhiambo, 2021. "Taxation, foreign aid and political governance in Africa," European Journal of Comparative Economics, Cattaneo University (LIUC), vol. 18(2), pages 217-249, December.
    2. Altunbaş, Yener & Thornton, John & Vasilakis, Chrysovalantis, 2023. "More Foreign Aid, Less Financial Development," Economia Internazionale / International Economics, Camera di Commercio Industria Artigianato Agricoltura di Genova, vol. 76(4), pages 495-528.
    3. Łukasz Marć, 2017. "The Impact of Aid on Total Government Expenditures: New Evidence on Fungibility," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(3), pages 627-663, August.
    4. Eric Gabin Kilama, 2014. "Recipients aid absorption in the new development cooperation landscape," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 34(3), pages 1929-1944.
    5. Kilama, Eric Gabin, 2016. "The influence of China and emerging donors aid allocation: A recipient perspective," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 76-91.
    6. Thomas Bwire & Oliver Morrissey & Tim Lloyd, 2013. "A Timeseries Analysis of the Impact of Foreign Aid on Central Government's Fiscal Budget in Uganda," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2013-101, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    7. Bwire, Thomas & Lloyd, Tim & Morrissey, Oliver, 2013. "Foreign Aid, Public Sector and Private Consumption: A Cointegrated Vector Autoregressive Approach," WIDER Working Paper Series 094, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    8. Loujaina Abdelwahed, 2021. "The fiscal management of permanent and temporary foreign aid: Evidence from sub‐Saharan Africa," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 33(4), pages 685-716, May.
    9. Jose L. Diaz‐Sanchez & Abrams M. E. Tagem & Joana Mota, 2022. "Tax revenue effort and aid in fragile states: The case of Comoros," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 90(2), pages 175-195, June.
    10. Abrams M E Tagem, 2017. "Aid, Taxes and Government Spending: A Heterogeneous Cointegrated Panel Analysis," Discussion Papers 2017-02, University of Nottingham, CREDIT.
    11. Lukasz Marc, 2014. "The Causal Links between Aid and Government Expenditures," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 14-012/V, Tinbergen Institute.
    12. Łukasz Marć, 2015. "The impact of aid on total government expenditures: New evidence on fungibility," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2015-010, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    13. Thomas Bwire & Oliver Morrissey & Tim Lloyd, 2013. "Foreign Aid, Public Sector and Private Consumption: a Cointegrated Vector Autoregressive Approach," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2013-094, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    14. Syed Ali Abbas & Eliyathamby A. Selvanathan & Saroja Selvanathan, 2023. "The foreign aid and remittance nexus: Evidence from South Asia," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(7), pages 2032-2053, July.
    15. Arcade NDORICIMPA, 2017. "Analysis of Asymmetries in the Tax-Spending Nexus in Burundi," Journal of Economics and Political Economy, KSP Journals, vol. 4(1), pages 53-70, March.
    16. Morrissey, Oliver, 2015. "Aid and Government Fiscal Behavior: Assessing Recent Evidence," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 98-105.
    17. Łukasz Marć, 2017. "The Impact of Aid on Total Government Expenditures: New Evidence on Fungibility," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(3), pages 627-663, August.
    18. Bwire, Thomas & Lloyd, Tim & Morrissey, Oliver, 2013. "A Timeseries Analysis of the Impact of Foreign Aid on Central Government's Fiscal Budget in Uganda," WIDER Working Paper Series 101, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    19. Abbas, Syed Ali & Selvanathan, Eliyathamby A. & Selvanathan, Saroja & Bandaralage, Jayatilleke S., 2021. "Are remittances and foreign aid interlinked? Evidence from least developed and developing countries," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 265-275.
    20. repec:oup:jafrec:v:32:y:2022:i:1:p:26-51. is not listed on IDEAS
    21. Hartmann, Simon, 2013. "Collaborative capacity building as an approach to more effective development cooperation: Lessons from the nation building experience in Burundi (2002-2008)," Briefing Papers 7, Austrian Foundation for Development Research (ÖFSE).

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    Keywords

    Economic assistance and foreign aid; Fiscal policy; Government spending policy; Taxation;
    All these keywords.

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