The Institutional Economics of Foreign Aid
The Institutional Economics of Foreign Aid
Uwe Mummert, Max Planck Institute, Jena
Peter Murrell, University of Maryland, College Park
Paul Seabright, Université de Toulouse
Elinor Ostrom
This book analyzes the institutions--incentives and constraints--that guide the behavior of persons involved in the implementation of aid programs. While traditional performance studies tend to focus almost exclusively on policies and institutions in recipient countries, the authors look at incentives in the entire chain of organizations involved in the delivery of foreign aid, from donor governments and agencies to consultants, experts and other intermediaries. They examine incentives inside donor agencies, the interaction of subcontractors with recipient organizations, incentives inside recipient country institutions, and biases in aid performance monitoring systems.
- New perspective on an old debate - why aid is often ineffective
- Interesting combination of theory and practice
- Innovative contribution to growing literature on new institutional economics, emphasizing performance problems inside the aid supply chain, rather than in the recipient countries
Reviews & endorsements
"The mjor merit of Martens' argument lies in his explicit plea in favor of the role evaluation pays in the information feedback loop by enlightening taxpayers about the `true` benefits of aid programs." Review of Political Economy, Mita Marra, Italian National Research Council
Product details
June 2002Hardback
9780521808187
212 pages
229 × 152 × 16 mm
0.48kg
15 b/w illus.
Available
Table of Contents
- List of figures
- Foreword Elinor Ostrom
- 1. Introduction Bertin Martens
- 2. Conflicts of objectives and task allocation in aid agencies Paul Seabright
- 3. The interaction of donors, contractors and recipients in implementing aid for institutional reform Peter Murrell
- 4. Embedding externally induced institutional reform Uwe Mummert
- 5. The role of evaluation in foreign aid programmes Bertin Martens
- 6. Some policy conclusions regarding organizations involved in foreign aid Bertin Martens
- Index.
