This paper surveys 50 years 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 didn’t,...

Comparing aid flows in the 1990s with those from the 1970s make it clear that there are now many more countries receiving what may be termed "high aid" (say in excess of 30 percent of GNP) and that there has emerged a group of countries receiving very high aid. Whilst never formally considered...