Motivation for bilateral aid allocation: Altruism or trade benefits

Javed Younas

European Journal of Political Economy, 2008, vol. 24, issue 3, pages 661-674

Abstract: This paper argues that OECD countries allocate more aid to recipient nations who import goods in which donor nations have a comparative advantage in production. The estimates indicate that a substantially larger amount of aid is provided to recipients who import capital goods, while imports by other category groups have no significant effects. Given that developed donor nations are major producers and exporters of capital goods, this result at least partially supports their trade benefits motive. Donors also appear to be more concerned about alleviating physical miseries (infant mortality) and rewarding good human rights conditions, but less towards reducing economic hardships (poverty). Moreover, the usual political and strategic considerations of donors continue to be the major determinants of aid allocation even in the Post Cold War era.

Date: 2008
View citations in EconPapers

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/B6V97 ... 6d96a34f6575bb952cf2
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: http://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:poleco:v:24:y:2008:i:3:p:661-674

Access Statistics for this article

European Journal of Political Economy is edited by J. De Haan, A. L. Hillman and H. W. Ursprung

More articles in European Journal of Political Economy from Elsevier
Series data maintained by Heidi Boesdal ().