Big Push versus Absorptive Capacity: How to Reconcile the Two Approaches

In this paper they examine whether absorptive capacity can constitute sufficient justification for rejecting the proposal of a large aid increase to support the ‘big push’. They argue that the probability of a poverty trap exists for many countries, in particular the least developed countries (LDCs) and that an increase in aid is relevant for them. Moreover they also show that the decrease in marginal aid returns is slower in vulnerable countries, which supports the rationale to include vulnerability as one of the aid-allocation criteria. [Discussion Paper No. 2007/05]