Public spending often increases at the end of fiscal years. This is undesirable because late spending tends to be inefficient. The causes for these spending spikes are however poorly understood. This paper offers a novel identification strategy that relies on the historic variation in countries'...

Development as self-interest -- Targeted development in perspective -- Maximizing utility vis- a-vis developing countries -- Re-orienting foreign aid -- Preferential trade agreements as development policy -- Climate finance for developing countries