Development aid: Regulatory Impact Assessment and conditionality

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to examine how Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) can contribute to decision-making processes of Official Development Assistance (ODA) loans and grants. The point of departure for the discussion is the phenomenon that RIA, within a context of ODA, is applied by International Finance Institutions mainly in the context of Development Policy Loans, to introduce or strengthen country systems for Regulatory Impact Assessment. However, ODA grants, and loans, particularly when specific policy or regulatory conditions are attached to them, significantly impact economic and social conditions within the beneficiary country. This article examines what role RIA can play in facilitating a coherent decision-making process affecting the ODA allocation within a context of conditionalities requiring the introduction of new, or changes to existing, policies and regulations. The discussion considers the nexus between development aid effectiveness, conditionality and ownership, and RIA. The article argues a justification for applying RIA to ODA loans and grants which carry regulatory and policy conditionalities.

From Modernisation, Dependency and Soft Power Toward a Commonwealth of Learning

“…Proponents of dependency development theory hypothesise that the nexus between the Western dominated homogenous IFIs and other like-minded bi-lateral aid agencies on the one side and the aid seeking developing countries on the other, is based on a set of conditionalities externally imposed by the former. Arguably, these conditionalities are economically exploitative, intellectually colonising, and socio-politically incompatible with development (Jakupec & Kelly, 2016). A more contemporary understanding of dependency theory is that 'dependency' is not simply an economic construct but also a socio-political process.…”

“…Of course, there are other conditionalities which may lead to greater gender and social equity, inclusivity and mainstreaming in the education sector. However, research has shown that there is much scepticism in the developing world about the effectiveness of conditionalities, especially as there is evidence of recipients' policy reversals (Jakupec & Kelly, 2016). On balance, it could be argued that the Washington Consensus-based conditionalities are authoritarian, enforcing donor's economic and political priorities, even if these are not shared by the aid seeking country's social, cultural, economic, or political values and norms.…”

O G20 e a pandemia: entre a economia e a saúde

“…Até 2000, vinte dos 28 países da OCDE tinham implementado os requisitos da AIR e, atualmente, praticamente todos os países da OCDE usam AIR, cuja exigência também começou a ser fortemente promovida pelo Banco Mundial aos seus países clientes. Como resultado, um número crescente de países em desenvolvimento adota agora os requisitos da AIR (Jakupec & Kelly, 2016).…”

Editorial: on the need of policy level IA

“…Furthermore, there is no shortage of suitable policy assessment tools and evidence for policy impacts (see e.g. Jakupec and Kelly 2016;Olagunju and Gunn 2016;Sizo et al 2016;Huang et al 2017;Mendoza Sammet 2017). Evidence also includes reflections on the role of IA in the current post-factual era (Fischer 2017).…”