We examine whether absorptive capacity represents a compulsory reason to reject the proposal of a large aid increase to support a big push. We argue that poverty trap is a probability for many countries, in particular the Least Developed Countries and that an aid increase is relevant for them....

Following a series of debt cancellations, the public debt of many developing countries has reached low levels. These countries are being urged to extent public spending to reach The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), but can not exclusively rely on external financing. Consequently, is an...

Developing countries are being urged to extent public spending to reach The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Following a series of debt cancellations, the public debt of many developing countries has reached low levels, so that external borrowing is a plausible option. However, developing...

Ethical foundations of the development aid of France may be found in General de Gaulle's speeches and in Paul VI's encyclical Popularum Progressio, the roots of which are the New Testament. This article aims at reconciling ethic with aid effectiveness as it is defined by economics. It analyses...

This article investigates how financial development is beneficial to the reduction of poverty, on the one hand by promoting growth and in the other hand directly by the McKinnon conduit effect. At the same time, however, financial instability which accompanies financial development is...

The reduction of child mortality is one of the most universally accepted Millennium goals. However, a significant debate came out on the means of reaching it and on its realism with regard to the situation of most of the least developed countries. The recommendations made for the achievement of...

Macro vulnerability of the poor countries, an increasing concern of the international community, is analyzed as the risk that their development be hampered by the shocks they face, natural or external. Structural vulnerability mainly results from the size of the shocks and the exposure to the...

While after a long stagnation growth seems to have come back in Africa, the issue remains to know whether the new African growth is sustainable. This paper examines to what extent African growth is vulnerable to exogeneous shocks and what are the implications for international development...

The aim of the note is, following the previous work of the Committee for Development Policy (CDP) (United Nations 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006) as well as my related papers and my forthcoming book on the Least Developped Countries (LDCs) (Guillaumont, 2004a, 2004b, 2006, 2007a, 2007b), to...

This paper assesses the effect of economic instability on the success of the projects funded by the World Bank, using the outcome of the projects, which is a notation of their overall success determined by the Independent Evaluation Group. It has been argued in macro economic studies that aid...