Revisiting the Aid – Growth Nexus: New Evidence on 56 Least Developed Countries

  • Eko SUGIYANTO Department of Public Administration, Faculty of Social and Political Science University of National, Jakarta, Indonesia
  • Kumba DIGDOWISEISO Department of Management, Faculty of Economics University of National, Jakarta, Indonesia

Abstract

Many scholars have observed the aid – growth nexus with no consensus regarding the results. This study tries to investigate the potential non-linearities relationship between aid and growth as well as to explore whether aid is more effective in countries with good policies. In the panel specifications, we use six time periods in 56 Least Developed countries, namely: 1985-1989; 1990-1994; 1995-1999; 2000-2004; 2005-2009; 2010-2014. By using the panel Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) estimation, we find that a more positive impact of aid on growth in good policy environments is not a robust result in all models. However, our study confirms a non-linear relationship between aid and growth.

References

References
[1] Addison, T., Mavrotas, G., and McGillivray, M. 2005. Aid, Debt Relief and New Sources of Finance for Meeting the Millennium Development Goals. Journal of International Affairs, 58(2): 113–127.
[2] Bacha, E.L. 1990. A Three-Gap Model of Foreign Transfers and the GDP Growth Rate in Developing Countries. Journal of Development Economics, 32(2): 279–296. Doi: 10.1016/0304-3878(90)90039-E
[3] Bazzi, S., and Clemens M.A. 2013. Blunt Instruments: Avoiding Common Pitfalls in Identifying the Causes of Economic Growth. American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, 5(2): 152-186. Doi: 10.1257/mac.5.2.152
[4] Burnside, C., and Dollar, D. 2000. Aid, Policies, and Growth. The American Economic Review, 90(4): 847–868.
[5] Burnside, C., and Dollar, D. 2004. Aid, policies, and Growth: Revisiting the Evidence. Policy Research Working Paper No. 3251, 2004). Washington, DC: World Bank.
[6] Chenery, H.B., and Strout S. 1966. Foreign Assistance and Economic Development. The American Economic Review, 56(4): 679–733.
[7] Clemens, M.A., Radelet, S., Bhavnani, R.R., and Bazzi, S. 2012. Counting Chickens When They Hatch: Timing and the Effects of Aid on Growth. Economic Journal, 122(561): 590–617. Doi: 10.1111/j.1468-0297.2011.02482.x
[8] Dahlberg, S., Holmberg, S., Rothstein, B., Khomenko, A., and Svensson, R. 2016. The Quality of Government Basic Dataset: version Jan16. Available at http://www.qog.pol.gu.se (accessed on 10 January)
[9] Dalgaard, C.J., and Hansen, H. 2001. On Aid, Growth and Good Policies. Journal of Development Studies, 37(6): 17-41. Doi: 10.1080/713601081
[10] Domar, E. 1947. Expansion and Employment. The American Economic Review, 37(1): 34–55.
[11] Easterly, W., Levine, R., and Roodman, D. 2004. Aid, Policies, and Growth: Comment. The American Economic Review, 94(3): 774–780.
[12] Feenstra, R.C., Inklaar, R., and Timmer, M. P. 2015. The Next Generation of the Penn World Table. The American Economic Review, 105(10): 3150-3182. Available at www.ggdc.net/pwt (accessed on 10 January)
[13] Guillaumont, P. 2008. To Move Out of the Trap - The Least Developed Countries, Paris: Economica.
[14] Harrod, R. 1948. Towards a Dynamic Economics, London: Macmillan.
[15] Hansen, H., and Tarp, F. 2000. Aid Effectiveness Disputed. Journal of International Development, 12(3): 375–398. Doi: 10.1002/(SICI)1099-1328(200004)12:3<375::AID-JID657>3.0.CO;2-M
[16] Hansen, H., and Tarp, F. 2001. Aid and Growth Regressions. Journal of Development Economics, 64(2): 547–570. Doi: 10.1016/S0304-3878(00)00150-4
[17] Mercieca, P. 2010. Aid and Economic Growth in Developing Countries: A Literature Review. Bank of Valetta Review, 41: 1-22.
[18] Mosley, P. 1980. Overseas Aid: Its Defence and Reform. Brighton: Wheatsheaf.
[19] Mosley, P., Hudson, J., and Horrell, S. 1987. Aid, the Public Sector and the Market in Less Developed Countries. Economic Journal, 97(387): 616–41. Doi: 10.2307/2232927
[20] Rajan, R.G., and Subramanian, A. 2008. Aid and Growth: What Does the Cross-Country Evidence Really Show? Review of Economics and Statistics, 90(4): 643–65. Doi: 10.1162/rest.90.4.643
[21] Roodman, D. 2007. The Anarchy of Numbers: Aid, Development, and Cross-Country Empirics. World Bank Economic Review, 21(2): 255-277. Doi: 10.1093/wber/lhm004
[22] Taylor, L. 1994. Gap Models. Journal of Development Economics, 45(1): 279–296. Doi: 10.1016/0304-3878(94)90057-4
[23] World Bank. 2014. World Development Indicators. Available at http://data.worldbank.org/data-catalog/world-development-indicators (accessed on 10 January)
[24] World Health Organization. 2014. WHO Mortality Database. Available at http://apps.who.int/healthinfo/statistics/mortality/whodpms/ (accessed on 10 January)
Published
2017-09-30
How to Cite
SUGIYANTO, Eko; DIGDOWISEISO, Kumba. Revisiting the Aid – Growth Nexus: New Evidence on 56 Least Developed Countries. Journal of Advanced Research in Law and Economics, [S.l.], v. 8, n. 6, p. 1950-1958, sep. 2017. ISSN 2068-696X. Available at: <https://journals.aserspublishing.eu/jarle/article/view/1851>. Date accessed: 20 apr. 2024.