Does Aid Drive Migration? Evidence from a Shift-Share Instrument∗

Foreign aid payments have been a key policy response by Global North countries to reduce increased migration flows from the Global South. In this article, we contribute to the literature on the relationship between aid and international migration flows and estimate the contemporaneous effect of bilateral aid payments on bilateral, international migration flows. The fundamental problem in analyzing this relationship is endogeneity, or reverse causality. To address this issue and achieve causal inference, we use a shift-share, or Bartik, instrument. Examining migration flows between 198 origin countries and 16 OECD destination countries over 36 years (1980−2015), we find a positive relationship between aid and migration. A ten-percent increase in aid payments will increase migration by roughly 2 percent. We further document non-linearity in the relationship between aid and migration and find an inverted U-shaped relationship between aid and migration flows. The findings presented here have implications for the design of bilateral and multilateral aid policies and for achieving various United Nations Sustainable Development Goals by stressing the importance of a better coordination between aid and immigration policies.

Part VIII Compliance, Implementation, and Effectiveness, Ch.54 Financial Assistance

This chapter studies the important role of financial assistance in furthering environmental protection. Financial assistance is composed of a complex mosaic of financial mechanisms and sources, which are linked to and affected by global conventions, multilateral institutions, bilateral aid, and private sector investment. Moreover, the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities has provided a specific rationale for the provision of financial assistance within multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs) and through various financial mechanisms. Through the provision of financial assistance, developed countries contribute to covering the incremental costs of protecting the global environment incurred by developing countries. The functions of financial assistance include, inter alia, capacity-building, disaster relief, financing of pollution control equipment, and compliance assistance. Among these various targets, capacity-building has received an important political emphasis. The chapter then outlines the different types and sources of financial assistance, as well as its aim and nature, before analysing the legal structure of financial mechanisms.

Foreign Aid Movements in Nepal

Purpose: Development needs fund and foreign aid is one of the majour source of fund for developing countries. The Paper aims to analyse the trends and composition of foreign aids with case reference to the Swiss aid. Design/Methodology/Approach: The study is based on secondary data from 2001/02 to 2014/15.Descriptive statistics has been applied to develop the trends and compositions. Findings/Result: In FY 2014/15, the total foreign aid commitment increased by totaling to Rs.1195.5 million as compared to Rs.2125.9 million in FY 2014/15. Of the total commitment in FY 2014/15 the contribution of bilateral aid was totaling and multilateral aid contributed. While categorizing the total foreign aid the share of grant assistance constituted and loan assistance million. In FY 2014/15 the foreign grant assistant subsequently increased by whereas foreign loan assistance decreased. The bilateral aid disbursement was out of total bilateral aid commitment. Multilateral aid disbursement was 56 percent. The amount of loan is increasing in the economy. This condition also indicates that in future debt burden in budgetary system is directly reducing the development expenditure which decreases the flow of budget in poverty reduction sectors. In amount Swiss aid is much less but is efficiency is widespread in increasing people's living standard. Due to 100% grant Swiss aid doesn't create fiscal burden in the economy. Originality/Value: it is an empirical research to signify the urgency of increasing Swiss aid and Swiss project in Nepal for sustained and broad-based economic development. Paper Type: Analytical Policy Research

Gender-Focused Bilateral Aid in the Environmental Sector

According to feminist political ecology, women are uniquely and disproportionately affected by forest loss in many low- or middle-income countries (LMICs) because of gender divisions with regard to labor, land access, and forest resources. However, most macro-comparative theories of development (including economic dependency, ecological modernization, treadmill of production, world society, and neo-Malthusian theories) tend to ignore gender. We draw on ideas from feminist political ecology to examine how gender-focused bilateral aid in the environmental sector impacts forest loss from 2001 to 2015. To do so, we analyze data for 79 LMICs using ordinary least squares regression. We find that more gender-focused bilateral aid in the environmental sector is related to less forest loss. We also find support for economic dependency theory (more agricultural and forestry exports are related to more forest loss) and neo-Malthusian theory (more population growth is related to more forest loss). The main finding on bilateral financing supports the idea that gender should receive more attention in cross-national research, especially the integration of gender-related measures into analyses to refine and expand conventional macro-theories of development.

The Dynamics of Foreign Aid Trends and Patterns Among Low- Income Countries in Africa

Research background: Foreign aid flows to Africa mostly the Low-Income Countries (LICs) have increased drastically since 2000. Increasing aid flows are expected to stimulate economic growth that can release resources towards enabling LICs to reduce aid dependency. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to discuss the dynamics of bilateral aid trends and patterns among 27 LICs in Africa during 2000–2017. The main question this study tries to answer is: how have aid sources, compositions and dependency changed in LICs? Research methodology: The study employs a descriptive analysis technique to analyses bilateral aid flows to LICs in Africa from 50 donors during 2000–2017. Results: Total net aid flows to LICs increased by 1.5 times during 2000–2017 and were predominantly in the form of grants (92.7%). The study found a shift of sectoral aid allocations from the economic and productive sectors towards the social sector. Net aid as a share of GDP increased almost two-fold; implying an increasing trend of aid dependency in several LICs. Novelty: This study tries to present a full account of bilateral aid flows both from Traditional Donors (TDs) and Non-Traditional Donors (NTDs), unlike many earlier studies that have focused on TDs.

The Globalisation of Foreign Aid: Global Influences and the Diffusion of Aid Priorities

This chapter explains why bilateral aid donors often look and act alike, despite distinct national interests and histories—a phenomenon previously identified as “the globalisation of foreign aid”. It identifies processes that drive the similarity of aid actors and the diffusion of aid priorities, contributing to the globalisation of aid. The chapter reflects upon: (1) how the isomorphism of aid institutions and the homogenisation of aid policy represent the effects of these common processes of globalisation; (2) the implications of the globalisation of aid on the 2030 Agenda; and (3) how the globalisation of aid contributes to the “contested cooperation” framework woven through this volume.