Long Run Effects of Aid: Forecasts and Evidence from Sierra Leone

Katherine Casey, Rachel Glennerster, Edward Miguel and Maarten Voors ()

No 29079, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: We evaluate the long-run effects of a decentralized approach to economic development, called community driven development (CDD), a prominent strategy for delivering foreign aid. Notably we revisit a randomized CDD program in Sierra Leone 11 years after launch. We estimate large persistent gains in local public goods and market activity, and modest positive effects on institutions. There is suggestive evidence that CDD slightly improved communities’ response to the 2014 Ebola epidemic. We compare estimates to the forecasts of experts from Sierra Leone and abroad, working in policy and academia, and find that local policymakers are overly optimistic about CDD’s effectiveness.

JEL-codes: H41 I25 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021-07
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-afr, nep-isf and nep-ltv
Note: DEV POL
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Published as Katherine Casey & Rachel Glennerster & Edward Miguel & Maarten Voors, 2023. "Long-Run Effects of Aid: Forecasts and Evidence from Sierra Leone," The Economic Journal, vol 133(652), pages 1348-1370.

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Journal Article: Long-Run Effects of Aid: Forecasts and Evidence from Sierra Leone (2023)
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