Those fragile states whose stagnation is so tenacious despite generous aid programs, and substantial and costly interventions, are stuck in a 'fragility trap.' Caught in a low-level equilibrium, trapped states appear to be in a perpetual political and economic limbo that can last for years and...

Recently, Sachs et al. (2004) have argued in favor of a massive increase in foreign aid to Africa in order to escape from a poverty trap. They propose to increase the capital stock in one step, through a large, well-targeted infusion of foreign assistance. In this article we show that foreign...

In response to the need expressed by the UN General Assembly, an economic vulnerability index (EVI) has been defined by the Committee for Development Policy. The present paper, which refers to this index, first examines how a structural economic vulnerability index can be designed for the...

While developing countries have made some progress in achieving human development since the turn of the century, many are still lagging behind in important human development goals such as education, health, nutrition and access to clean drinking water and improved sanitation. Moreover, gender...

This paper compiles project-level data from the World Bank's lending history to describe patterns and the composition of its portfolio. The paper focuses particularly on the effect of countries' transition from International Development Association to International Bank for Reconstruction and...

We analyze the medium-term macroeconomic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and associated lock-down measures on low-income countries. We focus on the impact over the medium-run of the degradation of health and human capital caused by the pandemic and its aftermath, exploring the trade-offs between...

1. Introduction -- 2. Foreign Aid Conditionality and Economic Growth -- 3. Types of Aid -- 4. An Effectiveness, Efficiency, and Equity Approach to Examining Subnational Health -- 5. Evaluating Aid Agencies: Challenges, Comparisons, and Causes of Best Aid Practices -- 6. What Influences World...