Overcoming Stagnation in Aid-dependent Countries

Overcoming Stagnation in Aid-dependent Countries PDF Author: Nicolas Van de Walle
Publisher: CGD Books
ISBN:
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 136

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Book Description
In this book, Nicolas Van de Walle identifies 26 countries that are extremely poor and grew little if at all in the 1990s. His sample excludes North Korea and countries where civil war explains some of their failure to grow (Afghanistan, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Tajikistan and others). The 26 countries have limited infrastructure and human capital and the small size of their markets deter private savings and investment. Aid was meant to help overcome these problems, and these countries received a lot. Yet they have failed to grow. What is wrong? Is foreign aid a solution or part of the problem? What changes might make aid more effective? Given these countries require the financial and technical resources of the West, why haven't aid programs made a difference? Van de Walle blames their economic failure mostly on the venality and incompetence of their political leadership. He analyzes the contradictions and tensions faced by the aid community in poorly run countries, providing a sobering analysis of the perverse effects of aid where the politics is all wrong. Too often, resources provided by foreign aid keep the wrong government in office, and undermine adoption of economic as well as political reforms. Bad government combined with aid, in short, hurts poor countries - and particularly the poorest people in those countries. Despite good intentions, little progress has been made in implementing announced "reforms" of the aid business itself. A constituency for reform is lacking, in the donor countries and in the recipient countries, where those in power benefit from the status quo.

Overcoming Stagnation in Aid-dependent Countries

Overcoming Stagnation in Aid-dependent Countries PDF Author: Nicolas Van de Walle
Publisher: CGD Books
ISBN:
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 136

Get Book Here

Book Description
In this book, Nicolas Van de Walle identifies 26 countries that are extremely poor and grew little if at all in the 1990s. His sample excludes North Korea and countries where civil war explains some of their failure to grow (Afghanistan, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Tajikistan and others). The 26 countries have limited infrastructure and human capital and the small size of their markets deter private savings and investment. Aid was meant to help overcome these problems, and these countries received a lot. Yet they have failed to grow. What is wrong? Is foreign aid a solution or part of the problem? What changes might make aid more effective? Given these countries require the financial and technical resources of the West, why haven't aid programs made a difference? Van de Walle blames their economic failure mostly on the venality and incompetence of their political leadership. He analyzes the contradictions and tensions faced by the aid community in poorly run countries, providing a sobering analysis of the perverse effects of aid where the politics is all wrong. Too often, resources provided by foreign aid keep the wrong government in office, and undermine adoption of economic as well as political reforms. Bad government combined with aid, in short, hurts poor countries - and particularly the poorest people in those countries. Despite good intentions, little progress has been made in implementing announced "reforms" of the aid business itself. A constituency for reform is lacking, in the donor countries and in the recipient countries, where those in power benefit from the status quo.

Overcoming Stagnation in Aid-dependent Countries

Overcoming Stagnation in Aid-dependent Countries PDF Author: Nicolas Van de Walle
Publisher: Thomas Brothers Maps
ISBN: 9780881323795
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 120

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Book Description
For 50 years, foreign aid has been the central policy instrument with which the international community has promoted economic development. The main justification for aid has always been that the poorest countries could not develop without it. But does Foreign aid work? This book argues that large new infusions of foreign aid will largely be wasted unless the current agenda of reform is pushed forward much more aggressively. It offers a concrete a set of proposals for the international community to promote economic development.

Aid Dependence in Cambodia

Aid Dependence in Cambodia PDF Author: Sophal Ear
Publisher: Columbia University Press
ISBN: 0231161123
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 210

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Book Description
"Dr. Ear argues that the international community has chosen to prioritize political stability above all other governance dimensions, and in so doing has traded a modicum of democracy for an ounce of security. Focusing on post-1993 Cambodia, Ear explores the unintended consequences in post-conflict environments of foreign aid. He chooses Cambodia both for personal reasons--which infuses an academic analysis with a compelling sense of urgency--and because it is one of the most aid-drenched countries in modern history. He tries to explain the relationship between Cambodia's aid dependence and its appallingly poor governance. He concludes that despite decades of aid, technical cooperation, four national elections, no open warfare, and some progress in some parts of the economy, Cambodia is one broken government away from disaster."--Publisher's description.

Assessing Aid

Assessing Aid PDF Author:
Publisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN: 9780195211238
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 164

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Book Description
Assessing Aid determines that the effectiveness of aid is not decided by the amount received but rather the institutional and policy environment into which it is accepted. It examines how development assistance can be more effective at reducing global poverty and gives five mainrecommendations for making aid more effective: targeting financial aid to poor countries with good policies and strong economic management; providing policy-based aid to demonstrated reformers; using simpler instruments to transfer resources to countries with sound management; focusing projects oncreating and transmitting knowledge and capacity; and rethinking the internal incentives of aid agencies.

Development Without Aid

Development Without Aid PDF Author: David A. Phillips
Publisher: Anthem Press
ISBN: 0857283014
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 234

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Book Description
“Development Without Aid” opens up perspectives about foreign aid to the world’s poorest countries. Growing up in Malawi the author developed a sense of the limitations of foreign assistance and from this evolves a critique of foreign aid as an alien resource unable to provide the dynamism that could propel the poorest countries out of poverty. The book aims to help move the discussion beyond foreign aid. It examines the rapid growth of the world’s diasporas as a quasi-indigenous resource of increasing strength in terms of both financial and human capital, and considers how far such a resource might supersede aid. It uses extensive research findings to explore the possibilities for a resumption of sovereignty by poor states, especially in Africa, over their own development with the assistance of the world’s diasporas.

Problems, Promises, and Paradoxes of Aid

Problems, Promises, and Paradoxes of Aid PDF Author: J. Oloka-Onyango
Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
ISBN: 1443870935
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 395

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Book Description
This book is an anthology of essays contributing new scholarship to the contemporary discourse on the concept of aid. It provides an interdisciplinary investigation of the role of aid in African development, compiling the work of historians, political scientists, legal scholars, and economists to examine where aid has failed and to offer new perspectives on how aid can be made more effective. Questions regarding the effectiveness of aid are addressed here using specific case studies. The question of ownership is examined in the context of two debates: 1) to what extent should aid be designed by the recipient country itself? and 2) should aid focus on “need” or “performance”? That is, should donors direct aid to the poorest countries, regardless of their policies and governance, or should aid “reward” countries for doing the right thing? The future of aid is also addressed: should aid continue to be a part of the development agenda for countries in sub-Saharan Africa? If so, how much and what type of aid is needed, and how it can be made most effective? The major criticism against aid is that it cripples the recipient country’s economic growth by turning it into a passive receiver; in addition, it has been noted that aid is mostly supply-driven, depending upon donors rather than the actual needs of recipients. For this reason, aid may not meet the goals for which it was intended. To meet the needs of the communities they want to help, donors should work through consultation and a measure of recipient ownership. Donors need to understand context, to protect human rights, and to be guided by principles of social and environmental justice. Other suggested strategies for making aid more effective include peer review; self-assessment; the empowerment of women; encouraging accountability; investing in agriculture; helping smallholder subsistence farmers; introducing ethical and professional standards for civil service; and raising the competence of civil servants.

Why We Lie About Aid

Why We Lie About Aid PDF Author: Pablo Yanguas
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1783609354
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 276

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Book Description
Foreign aid is about charity. International development is about technical fixes. At least that is what we, as donor publics, are constantly told. The result is a highly dysfunctional aid system which mistakes short-term results for long-term transformation and gets attacked across the political spectrum, with the right claiming we spend too much, and the left that we don't spend enough. The reality, as Yanguas argues in this highly provocative book, is that aid isn't – or at least shouldn't be – about levels of spending, nor interventions shackled to vague notions of 'accountability' and 'ownership'. Instead, a different approach is possible, one that acknowledges aid as being about struggle, about taking sides, about politics. It is an approach that has been quietly applied by innovative development practitioners around the world, providing political coverage for local reformers to open up spaces for change. Drawing on a variety of convention-defying stories from a variety of countries – from Britain to the US, Sierra Leone to Honduras – Yanguas provides an eye-opening account of what we really mean when we talk about aid.

Engaging with Fragile States

Engaging with Fragile States PDF Author:
Publisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN: 0821368486
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 258

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Book Description
During fiscal 2003-05, World Bank lending and administrative budgets to fragile states amounted to $4.1 billion and $161 million, respectively. This report assesses the effectiveness of this Bank support. The report finds that the Bank and the donor community have improved their operational readiness to engage with fragile states, and made substantial progress on donor coordination at the international policy level. Significant challenges remain, however. Donor agendas have been overly ambitious and need to be made more selective, the effectiveness of donor programs needs to be improved after the immediate post-conflict phase in war-ravaged countries when structural change is needed, and donors need to develop transparent aid allocation criteria that ensure that fragile states will be neither under- nor over-aided. The report makes recommendations to overcome these challenges and distills lessons for the Bank and other donors.

Challenging Global Inequality

Challenging Global Inequality PDF Author: Alastair Greig
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 0230208401
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 272

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Book Description
This major introductory text written by 3 leading names in the field provides an accessible overview of the challenges faced in overcoming global poverty and inequality in the 21st century. Through an in-depth assessment of development theory and practice, the authors set out to advance two key arguments: the first being the importance of historically contextualizing contemporary developmental problems in order to assess policy proposals; and the second that inequality matters, and how this notion has continually remained a central feature of development debates from colonial times to present day. Ideal for undergraduate students taking development modules as part of political science and international relations degrees, this engaging text proves to be essential reading when exploring the impacts of development on today's international political economy. With each chapter covering inequalities from all different angles, the authors clearly outline the impact of models such as globalization and neoliberalism, as well as offering alternative views on the challenges posed by the UN's Millennium Development Goals. Also available is a companion website with extra features to accompany the text, please take a look by clicking below - https://he.palgrave.com/companion/Greig-Challenging-Global-Inequality/

Strengthening Electoral Integrity

Strengthening Electoral Integrity PDF Author: Pippa Norris
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107052602
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 391

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Book Description
Norris counters current pessimism about the effectiveness of democratic programs monitoring and assisting elections worldwide, arguing for international engagement.