Until recently, most aid from rich to poor countries was transmitted through official bilateral and multilateral channels. But the rapid growth in private development aid from foundations, charities, and philanthropic individuals raises a host of questions regarding the allocation of aid and its...

Flows of official development assistance (ODA) to recipient countries have been highly volatile and this reduces their value. At the macro level, empirical evidence suggests that volatile ODA can negatively impact growth through several channels. At the micro level, volatility can affect fiscal...

This note provides background data and analysis on what has been happening to aid flows and the resulting change in aid architecture. It is based on data taken from the OECD/DAC and on a review of the literature.Key numbers on development assistance trends:* Net official development assistance...