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72. The U.S. Aid "Surge" to Pakistan: Repeating a Failed Experiment? Lessons for U.S. Policymakers from the World Bank's Social-Sector Lending in the 1990s
- Author:
- Nancy Birdsall and Molly Kinder
- Publication Date:
- 05-2010
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Center for Global Development
- Abstract:
- During the 1990s, the World Bank and several donor partners provided a “surge” in external aid to support Pakistan's social sectors. Despite the millions of donor dollars spent, the program failed. Poverty was higher in Pakistan in 2004 than it was a decade earlier when the antipoverty program began. This working paper re-releases a CGD analysis of the World Bank's program, which was prepared in 2005 by CGD researchers Nancy Birdsall, Milan Vaishnav, and Adeel Malik. The analysis reports the many problems donors faced while working with Pakistan's government to improve health and education outcomes. A new preface by Nancy Birdsall and Molly Kinder identifies the key lessons from this massive donor experiment that are relevant today, as the United States and other donors prepare to increase their assistance to Pakistan to historic levels.
- Topic:
- Development, Poverty, Foreign Aid, and World Bank
- Political Geography:
- Pakistan, United States, and Central Asia
73. Are Funding Decisions Based on Performance?
- Author:
- Nandini Oomman, Steven Rosenzweig, and Michael Bernstein
- Publication Date:
- 04-2010
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Center for Global Development
- Abstract:
- To what extent do the major funders of HIV/AIDS programs in developing countries use past performance to guide decisions about future funding? This question is important for those concerned with the effectiveness of the significant funding flows for the treatment, care, and prevention of HIV and AIDS: linking funding to performance can help ensure that the best programs are given continued resources (and the failing ones are not) and that program managers have the strongest incentives to perform at a high level and to improve the performance of their programs. Performance-based funding can also have unintended negative consequences. Linking funding to performance can also induce single-minded attention to specific targets to the exclusion of harder-to-measure but important outcomes and loss of integrity of information systems.
- Topic:
- Humanitarian Aid, Non-Governmental Organization, Foreign Aid, and World Bank
- Political Geography:
- United States
74. The (Indispensable) Middle Class in Developing Countries; or, The Rich and the Rest, Not the Poor and the Rest
- Author:
- Nancy Birdsall
- Publication Date:
- 03-2010
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Center for Global Development
- Abstract:
- Inclusive growth is widely embraced as the central economic goal for developing countries, but the concept is not well defined in the development economics literature. Since the early 1990s, the focus has been primarily on pro-poor growth, with the "poor" being people living on less than $1 day, or in some regions $2 day. The idea of pro-poor growth emerged in the early 1990s as a counterpoint to a concern with growth alone (measured in per-capita income) and is generally defined as growth which benefits the poor as much or more than the rest of the population. Examples include conditional cash transfers, which target the poor while minimizing the fiscal burden on the public sector, and donors' emphasizing primary over higher education as an assured way to benefit the poor while investing in long-term growth through increases in human capital. Yet these pro-poor, inclusive policies are not necessarily without tradeoffs in fostering long-run growth. In this paper I argue that the concept of inclusive growth should go beyond the traditional emphasis on the poor (and the rest) and take into account changes in the size and economic command of the group conventionally defined as neither poor nor rich, i.e., the middle class.
- Topic:
- Economics, International Political Economy, Poverty, and Foreign Aid
75. Every Dollar Counts: How Global AIDS Donors Can Better Link Funding Decisions to Performance
- Author:
- David Wendt, Nandini Oomman, and Christina Droggitis
- Publication Date:
- 04-2010
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Center for Global Development
- Abstract:
- Billions of dollars have been allocated to fight HIV/AIDS in poor countries over the past decade, yet less than half of those requiring treatment receive it, and for every two people put on treatment, five more become infected. This situation, in combination with the global economic crisis and the growing pressure to respond to broader global health objectives, is forcing donors to consider how to do more with their available funds. One way to improve the effectiveness of HIV/AIDS programs is to tie funding decisions to performance. Performance-based funding rewards effective programs and gives incentives for poor performers to improve. Donors have experimented with this approach, but they should do much more to ensure that funding decisions reflect and respond to how well funding recipients meet the objectives of their programs.
- Topic:
- Health, Third World, and Foreign Aid
76. Inside the World Bank's Black Box Allocation System: How Well Does IDA Allocate Resources to the Neediest and Most Vulnerable Countries?
- Author:
- Benjamin Leo
- Publication Date:
- 06-2010
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Center for Global Development
- Abstract:
- During the last few International Development Association (IDA) replenishment negotiations, several large donors have pressed for reforms to further increase the share of IDA resources provided to the neediest and most vulnerable countries. While the proposed reforms take different forms, the philosophical Thrust is the same—push IDA's focus further down the development chain. Against this backdrop, this paper explores just how well IDA's existing performance-based allocation (PBA) system actually addresses these issues. To achieve this, I examine how IDA allocations are distributed at each successive stage of the PBA methodology based upon a number of need and vulnerability measures. Next, I apply two simple measures to gauge IDA's performance: (1) whether per-capita allocations to the neediest and most vulnerable countries are equal to or greater than those for the best off countries and (2) whether allocations to the neediest and most vulnerable countries increase between the baseline and final allocation scenarios. Based on these criteria, IDA has a mixed track record. IDA's performance is very modest with respect to the relative share allocated to the neediest or most vulnerable countries. Of the eight measures examined, only two illustrate parity between final allocations to the bottom and top quartile of countries. However, the litany of PBA exceptions clearly helps to redistribute resources in absolute terms. Per-capita allocations to the neediest and most vulnerable countries more than doubles between the baseline and final PBA scenarios for every need and vulnerability indicator examined. Clearly, the existing system has several built-in biases to redistribute resources to these countries. However, these exceptions fall short from ensuring full parity that some IDA donors may wish to achieve. As such, the philosophical debate among key IDA donors likely will continue for the foreseeable future.
- Topic:
- Development, Economics, Foreign Aid, and Financial Crisis
77. Twenty Concrete Steps to Improve the United States' Commitment to Development
- Author:
- David Roodman and Cindy Prieto
- Publication Date:
- 07-2010
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Center for Global Development
- Abstract:
- The Commitment to Development Index (CDI) ranks 22 rich countries on their dedication to policies that benefit poor nations. Looking beyond standard comparisons of foreign aid flows, the CDI measures national policies on aid, trade, investment, migration, environment, security, and technology. The United States ranked 17th overall in 2009, strong in trade and security but less competitive in aid and environment. This memo describes how to boost the U.S. score and links to CGD materials with more detail.
- Topic:
- Development, Foreign Aid, and Foreign Direct Investment
- Political Geography:
- United States
78. Not Just Aid: How Making Government Work Can Transform Africa
- Author:
- Tony Blair
- Publication Date:
- 12-2010
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Center for Global Development
- Abstract:
- Country ownership has become the new watchword in development. The problem for traditional donors is that ownership is too often code for convincing developing country governments to adopt the donors' agenda as their own: a way of securing influence without imposing conditionality. What is really needed is genuine country leadership. As President Obama said when he announced the United States' new development policy at the UN Millennium Development Goals summit in New York in September, “We will partner with countries that are willing to take the lead. Because the days when your development was dictated in foreign capitals must come to an end.”
- Topic:
- Development, Human Welfare, Humanitarian Aid, and Foreign Aid
- Political Geography:
- Africa, United States, New York, and United Nations
79. Giving Money Away? The Politics of Direct Distribution in Resource Rich States
- Author:
- Alexandra Gillies
- Publication Date:
- 11-2010
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Center for Global Development
- Abstract:
- The governments of resource rich states have several options for how to allocate oil and mineral revenues, including the direct distribution of revenues to their citizens. This paper discusses the political feasibility and political implications of such cash transfers in the specific context of resource-rich states. Identifying the contexts in which this policy is mostly likely to emerge, and understanding the potential governance risks and benefits, will help policymakers to consider the desirability of cash transfers as an allocation choice.
- Topic:
- Development, Humanitarian Aid, Poverty, Foreign Aid, and Foreign Direct Investment
80. Cash on Delivery: A New Approach to Foreign Aid
- Author:
- Nancy Birdsall, Ayah Mahgoub, and William D. Savedoff
- Publication Date:
- 11-2010
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Center for Global Development
- Abstract:
- Foreign aid often works, but it is often criticized for being ineffective or even for undermining progress in developing countries. This brief describes a new approach, Cash on Delivery Aid, which gives recipients full responsibility and authority over funds paid in proportion to verified measures of progress. Through the example of using COD Aid to support universal primary-school completion, the brief illustrates a practical approach to aid that holds the promise of making aid more effective and less burdensome by fundamentally restructuring the relationships of accountability among funders, recipients, and their respective constituencies.
- Topic:
- Development, Education, Third World, and Foreign Aid