Publications
Publications
- July 2009
- American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics
How Is Foreign Aid Spent? Evidence from a Natural Experiment
By: Eric D. Werker, Faisal Z. Ahmed and Charles Cohen
Abstract
We use oil price fluctuations to test the impact of transfers from wealthy OPEC nations to their poorer Muslim allies. The instrument identifies plausibly exogenous variation in foreign aid. We investigate how aid is spent by tracking its short-run effect on aggregate demand, national accounts, and balance of payments. Aid affects most components of GDP though it has no statistically identifiable impact on prices or economic growth. Much aid is consumed, primarily in the form of imported noncapital goods. Aid substitutes for domestic savings, has no effect on the financial account, and leads to unaccounted capital flight.
Keywords
Citation
Werker, Eric D., Faisal Z. Ahmed, and Charles Cohen. "How Is Foreign Aid Spent? Evidence from a Natural Experiment." American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics 1, no. 2 (July 2009): 225–244. (Reprinted in Geopolitics of Foreign Aid, ed. Helen Milner and Dustin Tingley. Northampton: Edward Elgar, 2013.)