The aid effectiveness literature : the sad results of 40 years of research

The aid effectiveness literature (AEL) consists of empirical macroeconomic estimates of the effects of development aid. By the end of 2004, it comprised 97 econometric studies of three families of related effects. Each family has been analyzed in a separate meta-analysis. The AEL is an ideal subject for meta-analysis as it uses only a few formally similar models to estimate the same underlying effects. It is also an area with strong beliefs, often generated by altruism. When this whole literature is examined, a clear pattern emerges. After 40 years of development aid, the preponderance of the evidence indicates that aid has not been effective. We show that the distribution of results is significantly asymmetric reflecting the reluctance of the research community to publish negative results. The Dutch disease effect on exchange rates provides a plausible explanation for the observed aid ineffectiveness.

Evaluation of a decision aid for prenatal testing of fetal abnormalities : a cluster randomised trial [ISRCTN22532458]

Background: By providing information on the relative merits and potential harms of the options available and a framework to clarify preferences, decision aids can improve knowledge and realistic expectations and decrease decisional conflict in individuals facing decisions between alternative forms of action. Decision-making about prenatal testing for fetal abnormalities is often confusing and difficult for women and the effectiveness of decision aids in this field has not been established. This study aims to test whether a decision aid for prenatal testing of fetal abnormalities, when compared to a pamphlet, improves women's informed decision-making and decreases decisional conflict.

Methods/design: A cluster designed randomised controlled trial is being conducted in Victoria, Australia. Fifty General Practitioners (GPs) have been randomised to one of two arms: providing women with either a decision aid or a pamphlet. The two primary outcomes will be measured by comparing the difference in percentages of women identified as making an informed choice and the difference in mean decisional conflict scores between the two groups. Data will be collected from women using questionnaires at 14 weeks and 24 weeks gestation.

The sample size of 159 women in both arms of the trial has been calculated to detect a difference of 18% (50 to 68%) in informed choice between the two groups. The required numbers have been adjusted to accommodate the cluster design, miscarriage and participant lost – to – follow up.

Baseline characteristics of women will be summarised for both arms of the trial. Similarly, characteristics of GPs will be compared between arms.

Differences in the primary outcomes will be analysed using 'intention-to-treat' principles. Appropriate regression techniques will adjust for the effects of clustering and include covariates to adjust for the stratifying variable and major potential confounding factors.

Discussion: The findings from this trial will make a significant contribution to improving women's experience of prenatal testing and will have application to a variety of maternity care settings. The evaluation of a tailored decision aid will also have implications for pregnancy care providers by identifying whether or not such a resource will support their role in providing prenatal testing information.

Macroeconomic impact of foreign aid to developing countries

The thesis looks at the macroeconomic impact of foreign aid. It is specially concerned with aid's impact on the public sector of less developed countries < LDCs> . Since the overwhelming majority of aid is directed to the public sector of LDCs, one can only understand the broader macroeconomic impact of aid if one first understands its impact on this sector. To this end, the thesis econometrically estimates " fiscal response" models of aid. These models, in essence, attempt to shed light on public sector fiscal behaviour in the presence of aid inflows, being specially concerned with the way aid is used to finance various categories of expenditures. The underlaying concern is to extent to which aid is " fungible" -that is, whether it finances consumption expenditure and reductions in taxation revenue in LDCs. A number of alternative models are derived from a utility maximisation framework. These alternatives reflect different assumptions regarding the behaviour of LDC public sectors and relate to the endogeniety of aid, whether or not recurrent expenditure is financed from domestic borrowing and the determination of domestic borrowing. The original frameworks of earlier studies are extended in a number of ways, including the use of a public sector utility function which is fully consistent with expected maximising behaviour. Estimates of these models' parameters are obtained using both time-series and cross-section data, dating from the 1960s, for Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and the Philippines. Both structural and reduced-form equations are estimated. Results suggest that foreign aid is indeed fungible, albeit at different levels. Moreover, the overall impact of aid on public sector investment, consumption, domestic borrowing and taxation varies between countries. Generally speaking, aid leads to increases in investment and consumption expenditure, but reduces taxation and domestic borrowing. Comparative analysis does, however, show that these results are highly sensitive to alternative behavioural assumptions and, therefore, model specification.

Rebuilding regimes or rebuilding community? Teachers' agency for social reconstruction

Non-government organisations (NGOs) are playing an increasingly significant role in post-conflict situations as donor funding pours into rebuilding programs. Donor funding supports the development of a range of humanitarian and civic programs such as peace restoration, civic reconstruction and peace-keeping. This article is a case study of the rebuilding of the education system in post-conflict Iraq that contextualises the activities sanctioned by new regime and aid agencies in post-conflict Iraq. While the war and crisis in Iraq continues to fuel great debate, a full political discussion falls outside the scope of this paper. Instead, the intention is to unpack the way that the dominant regime rehabilitates the education system in a seemingly apolitical way. Attempts to rebuild the Iraqi education system appear to be a case of the separation of political rehabilitation and social reconstruction. As the need for the new regime to assert political legitimacy grows, an institution such as education experiences vast changes as local educational practices are restructured to complement the new regime. In this process, the local teachers and their cultural and educational expertise are overshadowed by the ‘neutral’ politics of reconstruction. However, the rebuilding of education systems is a political process, the politics of which are evident in the way that critical agents, such as teachers, are being reshaped in the image of the new regime. Teachers have the capacity to contribute to the long-term social and cultural rebuilding of post-conflict nations through their broad social and educational agency. However, the educational policy and plans of regime-sponsored funding effectively marginalise the important role of local educators in the civic rebuilding. Teachers’ agency in Iraq is being overlooked as a means of using educators as peace-keepers who can build long-term educational capacity and stability in the post-conflict situation.

Challenging the dominant discourses of the state aid debate

The state aid debate is one of the longest running and most intractable issues in the public policy sphere in Australia. Recent decisions by the Commonwealth government to increase funding to private schools has reignited the debate. But the traditional defences of public education have proved inadequate to the task of hanging the course of current neo-liberal education policy trajectories. As the percentage of students attending private schools continues to grow, and as the spectre of a residualised public education system looms larger, so the need to rethink Australian public education becomes a more urgent project. In this paper we analyse what is happening and why; identify a range of concerns from the standpoint of a social democratic educational agenda; and theorise some possible strategies which might be pursued by those committed to a vibrant public schooling
system in Australia.

Assessing the legitimacy of humanitarian intervention : purpose, authority and means

This study looked at military deployments that seek to promote human rights, including operations in Somalia, Rwanda and Kosovo. While a legitimate humanitarian purpose and international authority for these missions can be demonstrated, finding the appropriate means of action - or how to best conduct the operation - remains very difficult, ensuring similar future missions will remain controversial.

General practitioners' role in health assessment of humanitarian settlers

An approach to health assessment of humanitarian settlers was developed and evaluated from the perspective of general practitioners (GPs). While conducting assessment was found to be feasible, there were significant barriers which GPs without a primary interest in refugee health and those working in private practice may find difficult to transcend.