Journal Article

Foreign Aid, Institutions, and Governance in Sub‐Saharan Africa

Knack, Stephen, Bräutigam, Deborah A.

2004

Overview

More than a decade ago, the World Bank argued that \"underlying the litany of Africa's development problems is a crisis of governance.\" Poor quality institutions, weak rule of law, an absence of accountability, tight controls over information, and high levels of corruption still characterize many African states today. Aid levels have been reduced in many parts of Africa during the past decade. Yet in many of the countries with poor governance records, aid continues to contribute a very high percentage of government budgets. This article explores the institutional impact of these high levels of aid and the way that large amounts of aid are delivered. The study finds evidence that higher aid levels are associated with larger declines in the quality of governance, as measured by subjective indicators. It also finds higher aid associated with lower tax effort in Africa. The conclusion offers some recommendations for reducing the possible deleterious impact of aid.

• Publisher: The University of Chicago Press,University of Chicago, acting through its Press
• Subject: Accountability / Aid / Budgets / Bureaucracy / Civil service / Colonialism / Corruption / Cultural change / Dependency Theory / Developing countries / Development studies / Economic crisis / Economic development / Expenditures / Foreign Aid / Funding / GDP / Governance / Government / Government budgets / Government corruption / Government spending / Gross Domestic Product / Impact analysis / Income taxes / Institutions / International development / LDCs / Low income groups / Manycountries / Political violence / Population dynamics / Public administration / Quality / Reform / Regression analysis / Rule of law / Self help / Studies / Sub Saharan Africa / Subjectivity / Taxation / World Bank