It has been evident for some time that the proportion of the public development aid which is distributed through multilateral channels is increasing. The causes of this process are examined in the following article which is based on the author's doctor thesis.

Attempts by the developing countries to replace the largely voluntary provision of development aid by a system that would free official resource flows from the possibility of political interference by the donors and from the need for yearly budgetary allocations have been going on for some time....