This note deals with a paradox: A literature growing exponentially in spite of the fact that it keeps finding the same result. We draw upon the findings of 106 empirical studies, of which 32 appeared in the last 4 years, to examine whether development aid generates economic growth. The studies...

The AEL consists of empirical macro studies of the effects of development aid. At the end of 2004 it had reached 97 studies of three families, which we have summarized in one study each using meta-analysis. Studies of the effect on investments show that they rise by 1/3 of the aid - the rest is...

The effect on aid allocation of the income level and population size in the recipient country is analyzed. The data show that both variables have a significant and robust negative effect, but they explain only a small part of the variation. The main thrust of the paper is a meta-analysis of the...