This paper uses the gravity model of trade to investigate the link between bilateral and multilateral foreign aid and exports. There are three primary findings from this approach. First, in the long term, the average return, in terms of an increase in the donor's level of goods exports, is...

We address the pitfalls of averaging by exploiting the longitudinal variation in aid to identify sudden and sharp increases in aid flows. Focusing on specific events, we test if aid accelerations correspond to policies and shocks in the recipient country. For a large sample of 145 recipient...

Foreign aid donors' conceptions of governance have been formed in their own countries where governments enjoy substantial resources. They have largely failed to appreciate the enormity of the gap between the resources available to rich country governments and those available to poor country...

We address the pitfalls of averaging by exploiting the longitudinal variation in aid to identify sudden and sharp increases in aid flows. Focusing on specific events, we test if aid accelerations correspond to policies and shocks in the recipient country. For a large sample of 145 recipient...

We develop a political-economic model of foreign aid allocation. Each ethnic group in the donor country lobbies the government to allocate more aid to its country of origin, and the government accepts political contributions from lobby groups. Initial per-capita income of the recipients and...