The Progressivity and Regressivity of aid to the Social Sectors

Abstract

This paper analyses the distribution of aid to the social sectors between 2009 and 2011 using aid concentration curves. Its key findings are four-fold. First, despite the stated objectives of donors, total aid disbursements are broadly neutral, favouring neither the most deprived nor relatively well-off countries. Second, the pattern of social sector aid disbursements follows total aid. Third, the aid allocation patterns of bilateral and multilateral donors differ, with multilaterals donors generally being more focused on the poorest countries. Finally, the distribution of aid for health and population is more progressive than that for education or other social sectors.

Aid, Social Policy and Development

“…Donors crowd around particular countries, not necessarily the poorest in terms of lowest per capita income or those having most number of poorest people. So despite the prioritarian principle that aid should go most to the poorest, Baulch and Vi An Tam () in this Special Issue find that in practice bilateral aid is at best poverty‐neutral—in contrast to multilateral aid, which is more pro‐poor.…”

Aid, Political Business Cycles and Growth in Africa

“…Baulch and Vi An Tam () in this Issue show that bilateral donors tend to be more neutral in their support to developing countries relative to multilateral donors that are more pro‐poor oriented. In fact, some European countries tend to focus on their former colonies, while the USA favours countries that are important for its political agenda.…”

“…Egypt and Afghanistan). In fact, all aid, and bilateral aid in particular, tend to be significantly influenced by colonial history and geopolitical factors (see Baulch and Vi An Tam () in this Issue). International financial institutions, at the behest of western powers, tend to practice forbearance towards countries that miss agreed targets, as long as the countries are in the right geopolitical location.…”

Impacto de la crisis económica en la asignación y distribución de la ayuda oficial para el desarrollo para la cobertura de necesidades sociales básicas. Análisis de los principales donantes internacionales

“…La utilización de curvas de concentración para determinar la geopolítica de la ayuda y el grado de progresividad en su asignación de acuerdo a criterios relacionados con la pobreza, el desarrollo, etc., ha sido frecuente en numerosos estudios previos (Mosley, 1987;Clark, 1991;White y McGillivray, 1995, Baulch, 2003Tezanos, 2010a;Quiñones y Tezanos, 2011;Muñoz y Torres, 2014;Tezanos y Quiñones, 2015, Baulch y Le, 2015. Las curvas constituyen un instrumento útil para mostrar, de forma gráfica, la mayor o menor concentración en la distribución de la ayuda entre sus receptores; si las asignaciones son crecientes en función del criterio definido se afirmará que la asignación es progresiva y la curva transcurriría por encima de la bisectriz del primer cuadrante de los ejes cartesianos, mientras que la situación opuesta se denominará regresiva y la curva transcurriría por debajo de la bisectriz.…”