Are aid agencies improving?

William Easterly

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    Abstract

    The record of the aid agencies over time seems to indicate weak evidence of progress in response to learning from experience, new knowledge, or changes in political climate. The few positive results are an increased sensitivity to per capita income of the recipient (although it happened long ago), a decline in the share of food aid, and a decline in aid tying. Most of the other evidence - increasing donor fragmentation, unchanged emphasis on technical assistance, little or no sign of increased selectivity with respect to policies and institutions, the adjustment lending-debt relief imbroglio - suggests an unchanged status quo, lack of response to new knowledge, and repetition of past mistakes.

    Original languageEnglish (US)
    Pages (from-to)633-678
    Number of pages46
    JournalEconomic Policy
    Volume22
    Issue number52
    DOIs
    StatePublished - Oct 2007

    ASJC Scopus subject areas

    • Economics and Econometrics
    • Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law

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