Economic Development and the Effectiveness of Foreign Aid: A Historical Perspective / Sebastian Edwards.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Edwards, Sebastian.

Contributor:

National Bureau of Economic Research.

Series:

Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w20685.

NBER working paper series no. w20685

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);

Other Title:

Economic Development and the Effectiveness of Foreign Aid

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2014.

Summary:

In this paper I discuss the effectiveness of foreign aid from a historical perspective. I show that foreign aid is a relatively new concept in economics, and I emphasize the role of exchange rate policies in the foreign aid controversies of the 1970s through 1990s. I show that in the early 1980s there were major changes in views regarding aid and agriculture. I emphasize the role of "ownership" of aid programs by the recipient countries as a way of increasing effectiveness. I argue that there is little hope of making progress in these debates if the economics profession continues to rely, almost exclusively, on cross section regressions. In order to move forward, these analyses need to be supplemented by in depth case studies that follow a country's history for many decades.

Notes:

Print version record

November 2014.