International development assistance - what Arjan de Haan calls the aid industry - continues to be critical for overcoming the world's development challenges, perhaps more so than ever given the global realities of climate change and the Covid pandemic. But how does this industry actually work?...

Based on a systematic review of the impacts of aid on both state capacity for, and elite commitment to, sustainable development, we conclude that a better understanding of the impact of aid has the potential to directly inform practices of international development. This requires better...