Thinking about Aid Predictability
Researchers are giving more attention to aid predictability. In part, this is because of increases in the number of aid agencies and aid dollars and the growing complexity of the aid community. A growing body of research is examining key questions:...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Brief |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2012
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2008/09/10075143/thinking-aid-predictability http://hdl.handle.net/10986/11141 |
| Summary: | Researchers are giving more attention to
aid predictability. In part, this is because of increases in
the number of aid agencies and aid dollars and the growing
complexity of the aid community. A growing body of research
is examining key questions: Is aid unpredictable? What
causes unpredictability? What can be done about it? This
note draws from a selection of recent literature to bring
some clarity to the basic story emerging. The authors start
by presenting evidence from the literature on various
problems with aid flows. Then authors discuss how
researchers use terms like volatility and unpredictability
when discussing aid predictability; the suggest that these
concepts can be sharpened by introducing two new concepts:
expectations and reliability. These new concepts are
particularly useful in conceptualizing the problems of
unpredictable flows in government budget processes. This
approach allows a basic analysis of how timing and different
types of aid affect predictability, and the implications for
policy making. |
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