Drawing from a growing body of literature on development aid in fragile contexts, this paper investigates the effectiveness of COVID-19 aid in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The paper uses the OECD's Principles for Good International Engagement in Fragile States and Situations to...

Aid beneficiaries know very little about development interventions in their own communities. This lack of transparency and information is likely to reduce beneficiaries' ability and willingness to become active in local development. It may also dampen intended aid effects on beneficiaries'...

This paper analyzes whether Chinese aid and other forms of official finance affect structural transformation in low- and-middle income countries. Specifically, we employ an instrumental variables (IV) approach to causally analyze the effect on the Economic Complexity Index of 98 recipient...

This study examines the relationship between gender-related aid and legal frameworks governing women's economic opportunities. Using data from 116 countries (2009-2022), we analyze how significant (SGRA) and principal (PGRA) gender-related aid influence the Women, Business, and Law (WBL) Index,...

We explore the effect of (big) shocks on the allocation of (bilateral) aid using natural disasters as natural experiments. We find that aid commitment statistically significantly increases following natural disasters, and that humanitarian aid precedes structural aid. While we find that the...

This technical assistance report outlines the current state and future objectives for regulating crypto assets in the Republic of Kenya. The report, prepared at the request of Kenya's Capital Markets Authority, involved an analysis of crypto-asset activities and the related regulatory framework....

The United States of America has long been a leading force in international development cooperation, both politically and financially. However, the first weeks of the second Trump administration have called the traditional role of US foreign aid fundamentally into question. From a 90-day funding...

The effectiveness of educational aid in Africa is a pressing issue, with little consensus on whether the management quality of aid has significant contribution toward achieving inclusive, equitable, and quality education on the continent by 2030. Despite substantial inflows of educational aid...

After earlier strategies for Denmark's development cooperation from 1993, 2000, 2010, 2012 and 2017, the latest strategy, The World We Share, from 2021 now expires, and a new is accordingly(?) needed. The parliament will start negotiating the strategy in May 2025. One may fear that it will be in...

Background: Each disaster has its specific resource requirements, varying based on its size, location, and the affected region's socio-economic level. Pre-disaster planning and post-disaster dynamic resource allocation including material and human resources is essential. Methods: To address the...

Despite the benefits of education, the learning crisis in the developing world has led the World bank to characterize it as learning poverty. Education is yet to be declared a political priority in most developing countries. Official Development Assistance (ODA), which is a mechanism for...

We study how Europe could replace US support for Ukraine both (i) financially, in terms of the fiscal effort required, and (ii) militarily, in terms of weapon production. Financial effort: The financial challenge of replacing US aid is limited. Currently, European governments are spending just...

Can digital payments help reduce extreme hunger? Humanitarian needs are at their highest since 1945, aid budgets are falling behind, and hunger is concentrating in fragile states where repression and aid diversion present major obstacles. In such contexts, partnering directly with governments is...

Following Russia’s attack on Ukraine on February 24, 2022, Western countries have been providing military assistance to Ukraine. However, relative to GDP, the support from the small Baltic and Nordic countries has been greater than that of the larger European NATO countries. This article...

This paper examines the evolving role of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in addressing global development challenges in the mid-2020s. At a time when a new development strategy is being drafted for the OECD, we provide a fresh perspective by exploring the...

Does foreign aid target the poorest people in developing countries? We examine this question in the context of World Bank foreign aid projects at the local level in 50 countries worldwide. We combine georeferenced data on World Bank foreign aid projects with remote-sensing data on nighttime...

This evaluation assesses the World Bank Group's contributions to supporting electricity access in Sub-Saharan Africa during 2015-24. Electricity access is an end user's ability to use an energy supply for the desired energy services. As such, electricity access includes both supply and demand...

The Covid-19 pandemic caused a global economic crisis, leading governments to provide substantial State Aid to support firms. This paper examines the effectiveness of Covid-related financial support in Spain and Italy, focusing on its impact on firm recovery. Using a difference-in-differences...

Why is in-kind aid a prominent feature of welfare systems? We present a lab-in-the-field experiment involving members of the general U.S. population and SNAP recipients. After documenting a widespread desire to limit recipients’ choices, we quantify the relative importance of (i) welfarist...