A foreign aid or foreign lending policy that focuses exclusively on project financing may have unintended consequences, report the authors. New research shows that aid intended for crucial social and economic sectors often merely substitutes for spending that recipient governments would have...

When foreign aid undermines institutional development aid recipients can exhibit the symptoms of aid"dependence"- benefiting from aid in the short term but damaged by it in the long term. The authors find that one equilibrium outcome can be high aid and weak institutions, even when donors and...

If a donor gives aid for a project that the recipient government would have undertaken anyway, the aid finances expenditures other than the intended project. The notion that aid in this sense may be"fungible"has recently received empirical support. The authors look at why aid isfungible or...

The first World Bank Economists' Forum was held on May 3-4, 1999. The forum attempts to answer these questions: How do you recognize a hidden fiscal crisis? When capital flows are volatile, what types of policy announcements can help fend off currency crises? Do government training programs for...