On the Channel and Type of International Disaster Aid

Raschky, Paul A. ; Schwindt, Manijeh

关键词: AID ALLOCATION;    AID DEPENDENCE;    AID EFFECTIVENESS;    AID PROGRAMS;    BAD GOVERNANCE;   

DOI  :  10.1596/1813-9450-4953
RP-ID  :  WPS4953

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

Research suggests that a donor country sdecision to provide post-disaster assistance is not onlydriven by the severity of a disaster and the resultinghumanitarian needs in the recipient country, but also bystrategic considerations. The authors argue that theidentification of the determinants of the size of disasterassistance is a first step in the analysis of the donor sbehavior. Since all aid is not motivated by the samereasons, the evaluation of the donor country s behaviorrequires a second step accounting for the type and thechannel of aid provided. Using data on internationaldisaster assistance between 2000 and 2007, the analysisexamines both the donor countries' decision on thechannel (bilateral versus multilateral) and the type ofdisaster relief (cash versus in-kind). The empirical resultssuggest that international disaster relief is not as muchdriven by the needs of the recipient country, but also bystrategic interests (for example, oil or traderelationships) of the donor country. Bilateral and cashtransfers are used as a vehicle to signal strategicinterests, while multilateral and in-kind transfers arechosen to control for misuse in badly governed recipient countries.