This paper surveys five decades of empirical research on the macroeconomic impact of aid, looking mainly at studies examining the link between aid and growth. It argues that studies dating until the late 1990s produced either contradictory or inconclusive results. Aid either worked, or it...

This paper shows that policy uncertainty, measured by the uncertainty of budget deficits, tax payments, government consumption and the inflation rate, has a statistically significant positive impact on capital flight. This result remains robust after having applied stability tests.

The publication of the Assessing Aid report of the World Bank in 1998 has stimulated the debate on the future of development aid and aid policies. This collection contains a number of studies that aim to contribute to this debate. In this introduction we put the discussion on the future of...

This paper examines the impact of remittances on economic growth in Small Island Developing States (SIDS). Results from variants of an empirical model suggest that while, on average, there is at best no association between remittances and growth in developing countries, there is a positive...

This paper looks at public sector debt in developing countries, being concerned specifically with the relationship between aid inflows and the public sector borrowing requirement net of aid loans. After examining the public sector budget constraint and various conditions under which aid might...

The international donor community has grave concerns about the effectiveness of aid to countries it classifies as 'fragile states'. The impact of aid on growth and poverty reduction and the ability to efficiently absorb additional inflows is thought to be significantly lower in these countries...