Aid and growth

de Raghuram Rajan

"We examine the effects of aid on growth--in cross-sectional and panel data--after correcting for thebias that aid typically goes to poorer countries, or to countries after poor performance. Even after thiscorrection, we find little robust evidence of a positive (or negative) relationship between aid inflowsinto a country and its economic growth. We also find no evidence that aid works better in betterpolicy or geographical environments, or that certain forms of aid work better than others. Ourfindings, which relate to the past, do not imply that aid cannot be beneficial in the future. But theydo suggest that for aid to be effective in the future, the aid apparatus will have to be rethought. Ourfindings raise the question: what aspects of aid offset what ought to be the indisputable growthenhancing effects of resource transfers? Thus, our findings support efforts under way at national andinternational levels to understand and improve aid effectiveness"--National Bureau of Economic Research web site.