•We revisit the aid-migration link using a gravity model of international migration.•We find a negative relationship between the total aid received and emigration rates.•We conclude that aid mainly ...affects migration through improved public services.•This is in line with the reorientation of aid towards social sectors under the MDGs.
While policymakers hope to stem migration flows by giving foreign aid, existing empirical evidence points in the opposite direction: by loosening budget constraints, aid tends to encourage people to emigrate. In this paper, we revisit the aid-migration link using a substantially extended and adjusted econometric approach based on a gravity model of international migration. In contrast to the previous literature, we obtain evidence of a negative relationship between the total aid a country receives and emigration rates. This even holds for the poorer part of recipient countries, which suggests that the budgetary constraint channel does not play a significant role in shaping migration decisions. The most plausible explanation for these contrasting results is that, unlike in previous studies, we use migrant flows rather than migrant stocks as the dependent variable. In substantive terms, the limited importance of the budgetary constraint channel might reflect that positive welfare effects of foreign aid tend to manifest themselves in improved public services for the poor rather than higher incomes, which is in line with the reorientation of foreign aid towards social sectors under the Millennium Development Goals.
Major DAC donors are widely criticized for weak targeting of aid, selfish aid motives, and insufficient coordination. The emergence of an increasing number of new donors may further complicate the ...coordination of international aid efforts. At the same time, it is open to question whether new donors (many of which were aid recipients until recently) are more altruistic and provide better targeted aid according to need and merit. Project-level data on aid by new donors, as collected by the AidData initiative, allow for empirical analyses comparing the allocation behavior of new
versus old donors. We employ Probit and Tobit models and test for significant differences in the distribution of aid by new and old donors across recipient countries. We find that, on average, new donors care less for recipient need than old donors. New and old donors behave similarly in several respects, however. They disregard merit by not taking the level of corruption in recipient countries into account. Concerns that commercial self-interest distorts the allocation of aid seem to be overblown for both groups.
At least since the large refugee movements to the EU in 2015, many policymakers see foreign aid as a means to stem migrant inflows. Yet, little is known about the mechanisms through which foreign aid ...might affect migration decisions. To this end, we run gravity-type regressions for the aid categories proposed by Clemens et al. (2012): (i) short-impact aid that may generate income growth in the short to medium term, and (ii) late-impact aid that affects non-monetary dimensions of well-being such as the quality of public services but may lead to higher incomes only in the long run. We find a strongly negative impact of late-impact aid, which suggests that donors may be able to dampen migrant inflows by focusing on improved public services.
•We examine core mechanisms through which foreign aid might affect migration decisions.•We follow Clemens et al. (2012) and distinguish short-impact aid and late-impact aid.•We find a strongly negative effect of late-impact aid on migration.
We study the local welfare effects of large-scale agricultural land acquisitions in Sub-Saharan Africa using a theoretical model that captures the major channels through which land deals might affect ...rural African populations. We distinguish two scenarios. In the first scenario, the investor plants capital-intensive staple food crops. Displaced farmers compete for a very limited number of jobs on the investment farm and spillovers to the remaining local farmers are rare. In the second scenario, where the investor plants cash crops, potential spillovers through contract farming are larger and production is more labor-intensive and hence provides better employment prospects.
•We analyze the local welfare effects of land acquisitions in Sub-Saharan Africa.•We develop a theoretical model that captures the main transmission mechanisms.•Welfare effects depend on the labor intensity of production on the investment farm.•Productivity spillovers for smallholders who stay on their plot are also important.
Does aid for education educate children? Dreher, Axel; Nunnenkamp, Peter; Thiele, Rainer
The World Bank economic review,
01/2008, Volume:
22, Issue:
2
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
Most of the aid effectiveness literature has focused on the potential growth effects of aggregate aid, with inconclusive results. Considering that donors have repeatedly stressed the ...multidimensionality of their objectives, a more disaggregated view on aid effectiveness is warranted. The impact of aid on education is analyzed empirically for almost 100 countries over 1970–2004. The effectiveness of sector-specific aid is assessed within the framework of social production functions. The Millennium Development Goals related to education, particularly the goal of achieving universal primary school enrollment, are considered as outcome variables. The analysis suggests that higher per capita aid for education significantly increases primary school enrollment, while increased domestic government spending on education does not. This result is robust to the method of estimation, the use of instruments to control for the endogeneity of aid, and the set of control variables included in the estimations.
Employing a unique dataset that covers households from six West African capitals, this paper provides new evidence on the demand for informal sector products and services. We first investigate ...whether demand linkages exist between formal and informal products and distribution channels. In a second step, we estimate demand elasticities based on Engel curves. We find strong demand-side linkages between the formal and informal sector, with the exception that informal goods are hardly bought through formal distribution channels. The estimated demand elasticities tend to show that rising incomes are associated with a lower propensity to consume informal sector goods and to use informal distribution channels.
Tackling the root causes of migration from developing countries through development cooperation has been suggested as an essential part of the policy mix in OECD migrant destinations. This is even ...though the evidence on whether economic development leads to more or less people emigrating is so far inconclusive. We investigate the relationship between income per capita and emigration to OECD countries separately for three different skill groups—low‐skilled, medium‐skilled and high‐skilled emigrants—being the first to employ panel regression approaches that account for cross‐country heterogeneity and cover a policy‐relevant time frame of about 5 years. Our findings reveal a universal negative association between income per capita and emigration for all three skill groups and for different income thresholds. This implies that policy makers should not be too concerned about potential trade‐offs between (successful) development cooperation and immigration management, at least in the short to medium run that our analysis covers. At the same time, the scope for using development cooperation as a migration policy instrument can be considered to be limited given the modest size of the estimated income effect: Taking our point estimates at face value, a 10% rise in GDP per capita would on average lead to about 3600 fewer immigrants per destination.
BackgroundLower back pain is one of the most common public health problems worldwide, with far-reaching social, psychological, and financial consequences for those affected. It can result in ...impairment of quality of life and lasting damage. This article deals with the following question: Is chiropractic treatment of lower back pain a clinically relevant, effective treatment method compared to other therapies, and does it therefore represent a standard treatment?MethodsThe literature research was conducted in the PubMed database. The evidence level of the individual studies was determined based on the PEDro scale. After determining the evidence levels of the individual studies, the studies rated level I were evaluated using tables according to the PICO model in comparison to other treatment methods. Investigated endpoints were back pain and the resulting restriction of movement.ResultsOf 1046 researched articles, there were 169 on the topic, including 54 systematic reviews and 115 randomized clinical trials (RCTs); 13 RCTs were suitable for a direct treatment comparison for the review. In the direct comparison with McKenzie therapy, better results were achieved for McKenzie. Otherwise, there were slightly better results for the intervention groups.ConclusionJust like McKenzie therapy, the chiropractic treatments achieved best results in improvement of lower back pain and the resulting movement restrictions. The differences in results between the intervention and control groups were small. The studies investigated exhibited methodological weaknesses. The results show that chiropractic treatment of low back pain is not a clinically relevant, effective treatment and is therefore not a standard therapy based on the studies evaluated.
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