China and India increasingly provide aid and credit to developing countries. This paper explores whether India uses these financial instruments to compete for geopolitical and commercial influence with China (and vice versa). To do so, we build a new geocoded dataset of Indian...

The maximizing finance for development (MFD) approach can be implemented to close the financing gap in the water and sanitation sector in Latin America and the Caribbean, helping the region in getting closer to achieving sustainable development goal (SDG 6), particularly if emphasis is put on...

This working paper analyses the nature of international adaptation finance received in Kenya and Tanzania, with particular emphasis on the extent to which the projects were devolved and thus potentially more responsive to the priorities for climate change adaptation as determined by local...

The maximizing finance for development (MFD) approach can be implemented to close the financing gap in the water and sanitation sector in Latin America and the Caribbean, helping the region in getting closer to achieving sustainable development goal (SDG 6), particularly if emphasis is put on...

We empirically re-examine the finance-economic growth nexus within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic using a financial intermediation model build upon the McKinnonShaw financial repression theory. The study findings show that there is a vicious circle of finance and economic growth which is...

The paper enquires into the long-term effect of development finance institutions (DFI) on the environmental, social and governance (ESG) policies of companies in which they have invested. It does this through a review of secondary data on the ESG policies of ten companies operating in Africa and...

Bilateral donors use foreign aid to pursue soft power. We test the effectiveness of aid in reaching this goal by leveraging a new dataset on the precise commitment, implementation, and completion dates of Chinese development projects. We use data from the Gallup World Poll for 126 countries over...

Bilateral donors use foreign aid to pursue soft power. We test the effectiveness of aid in reaching this goal by leveraging a new dataset on the precise commitment, implementation, and completion dates of Chinese development projects. We use data from the Gallup World Poll for 126 countries over...

This paper evaluates the competitive conditions in development finance and the implications for successfully mobilising private sector finance in order to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Using a market definition of cross-border development finance, the analysis...

International investors launched three speculative attacks on the Thai baht in 1996 and 1997 following one high-profile banking failure, constant departures from the Bank of Thailand (BOT), and slumping returns on stocks and real estate. Though the BOT succeeded in the baht’s defense, the...

We develop a screening model to analyse the funding allocation criteria of institutional donors towards NGOs. The model shows that when donors care about efficiency, they screen NGOs and concentrate their funding on those that comply. Combining two waves, 2002 and 2008, of a unique survey data...

We develop a screening model to analyse the funding allocation criteria of institutional donors towards NGOs. The model shows that when donors care about efficiency, they screen NGOs and concentrate their funding on those that comply. Combining two waves, 2002 and 2008, of a unique survey data...

The Caucasus region has experienced an increasing inflow of Chinese official development finance in the last twenty years. The inflow accelerated after the countries of the Caucasus region became participants in the Belt and Road Initiative. Chinese finance into Eurasia aims to build energy and...

The global economy has been facing a series of adverse shocks in recent years including the COVID-19 pandemic, climate crisis, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, high inflation, and interest rate shocks driven by global monetary policy normalization. The high cost of fossil fuels since 2021,...

The overall ratio of non-performing assets (NPAs) to total advances (the NPA ratio) extended to self-help groups (SHGs) has historically remained below 8 per cent in India. However, in the central, northern, and north-eastern regions of India, this ratio is relatively high and has remained above...

The global climate change imperative presents a particular challenge because of the scale and nature of the investment needed in developing countries, coupled with the difficulty of raising long term debt in many of them. Project finance can help to address this challenge because it enables...

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic is the worst global crisis since the Second World War, with developing countries suffering more devastating economic and social effects than developed countries. Governments’ increased pandemic-related expenditure combined with the drastic fall in...

For the fifth time, the countries of the region are convening in the framework of the Forum of the Countries of Latin America and the Caribbean on Sustainable Development. On each occasion, the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) has presented a report on regional...

Global asymmetries influence policies for recovery in Latin America and the Caribbean. Nearly 30 years after the Earth Summit and the global adoption of an international development agenda, in practical terms the environmental pillar of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development has not been...

This DIIS Working Paper presents key characteristics of each of the six cases including main crop focus, size and business model, as well as types of investors, their investment approach and the factors that motivate them. It also presents the different objectives that the investors have...

Bilateral donors use foreign aid to pursue soft power. We test the effectiveness of aid in reaching this goal by leveraging a new dataset on the precise commitment, implementation, and completion dates of Chinese development projects. We use data from the Gallup World Poll for 126 countries over...

The transition towards a low-carbon economy requires the fundamental reallocation of financial capital from current technologies towards green innovation. The role of public financing of green technological innovation by Multilateral Development Banks (MDB) is a largely unexplored area. In this...