Development Cooperation - Evaluation and New Approaches

Main description: This volume represents some of the Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Research Committee on Development Economics (Ausschuss für Entwicklungsländer) of the German Economic Association (Verein für Socialpolitik) held in Cologne, Germany, in July 2004. The meeting focused on the effectiveness of, and new approaches in, development cooperation. Both issues have become increasingly important in recent years in view of the declining volume of budget funds allocated to development cooperation. -- The papers discussing the effectiveness of foreign aid shed new light on the issue at a crucial moment where economists have begun to question the recent consensus that the productivity of aid mainly depends on the recipient country's policy environment. As far as the contributions dealing with new approaches in development cooperation are concerned, these are centred on a closer integration of the private sector, by joint action with so-called lead firms in production networks on the one hand, and the mobilization of additional financial resources from international capital markets for bilateral development cooperation, on the other. The authors also make suggestions concerning critical aspects relevant for implementation. The last part of this volume is dedicated to an assessment of low-income countries' pension schemes based on the human capital approach

B. Increasing integration of production networksI. Increasing efficiency and meeting technological demands; II. Compliance with standards; C. The increasing importance of lead firms; I. Lead firms as engines of innovation; II. Lead firms as coordinators of production networks; III. Lead firms as standard-setters; IV. Power relations and governance of production networks; D. Integration in production networks from the perspective of developing countries; I. Risks for developing countries; II. Opportunities for developing countries..

E. Interests of lead firms versus interests of locations in developing countriesF. Opportunities for development cooperation; References; Jörn Altmann: Integrating the Private Sector into Development Cooperation; A. Comments on Altenburg's paper; B. Complementary aspects; I. Private sector and poverty reduction; II. Dedication and commitment; III. WTO regulations and the private sector; 1. General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS); 2. Agreement on Trade-Related Investment Measures (TRIMs); C. Approaches to integrating the private sector into development cooperation..

I. Investment promotion in the investing and in the host countryII. Co-financing and build-operate-models; III. Capacity building by enterprises from industrialized countries; IV. Private capital funds; V. Micro-financing by "people's banks"; VI. Integration of altruistic agents; VII. Cooperations between the private sector and NGOs; D. Concluding remarks; References; Rainer Durth: Tapping Financial Markets for Bilateral Development Cooperation; A. Millennium Development Goals, Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers, and donor coordination; B. Political challenges to the achievement of the MDG..

II. Related studiesIII. Critique; IV. Endogenous institutions and conditionality; F. Conclusions; References; Rainer Thiele: Aid Allocation and Aid Effectiveness; A. Introduction; B. The Collier/Dollar allocation rule; C. Some refinements of the Collier/Dollar allocation rule; D. Focusing on pro-poor expenditures; E. Accounting for geographical disadvantages; F. Concluding remarks; References; Tilman Altenburg: Cooperating With the Private Sector in Development Cooperation: Strategic Alliances with Lead Firms in Production Networks; A. Introduction..

Preface; Contents; Philipp Harms and Matthias Lutz: The Macroeconomic Effects of Foreign Aid; A. Introduction; B. Using aid to overcome 'gaps'; I. Basic theory; II. Assessment; C. Using aid to overcome 'poverty traps'; I. Theory; II. Assessment; D. Evidence on aid, investment and growth; I. Hypotheses; II. The effect of aid on investment; III. The effect of aid on savings; IV. The effect of investment on growth; V. The effect of aid on growth; VI. The effect of aid on other aggregate variables; VII. Summary; E. Politics, policies, and institutions; I. Burnside and Dollar (2000)..