On the Channel and Type of International Disaster Aid
Research suggests that a donor country s decision to provide post-disaster assistance is not only driven by the severity of a disaster and the resulting humanitarian needs in the recipient country, but also by strategic considerations. The authors...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Policy Research Working Paper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2012
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/main?menuPK=64187510&pagePK=64193027&piPK=64187937&theSitePK=523679&menuPK=64187510&searchMenuPK=64187283&siteName=WDS&entityID=000158349_20090603160339 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/4145 |
| Summary: | Research suggests that a donor country s
decision to provide post-disaster assistance is not only
driven by the severity of a disaster and the resulting
humanitarian needs in the recipient country, but also by
strategic considerations. The authors argue that the
identification of the determinants of the size of disaster
assistance is a first step in the analysis of the donor s
behavior. Since all aid is not motivated by the same
reasons, the evaluation of the donor country s behavior
requires a second step accounting for the type and the
channel of aid provided. Using data on international
disaster assistance between 2000 and 2007, the analysis
examines both the donor countries' decision on the
channel (bilateral versus multilateral) and the type of
disaster relief (cash versus in-kind). The empirical results
suggest that international disaster relief is not as much
driven by the needs of the recipient country, but also by
strategic interests (for example, oil or trade
relationships) of the donor country. Bilateral and cash
transfers are used as a vehicle to signal strategic
interests, while multilateral and in-kind transfers are
chosen to control for misuse in badly governed recipient countries. |
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