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2019 | Buch

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International Development Assistance

Policy Drivers and Performance

verfasst von: Olav Stokke

Verlag: Springer International Publishing

Buchreihe : EADI Global Development Series

Enthalten in: Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik" , Springer Professional "Wirtschaft" , Springer Professional "Technik"

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Über dieses Buch

This book provides a comprehensive search for the basic political drivers of international development cooperation, based on the policy and performance of the OECD countries from the early 1960s to the present. The author focuses on the stated and implemented policies of the four so-called frontrunners and the Western hegemon, scrutinizing the changing trends in the justifications, objectives and guidelines set for the policy and their evolving performance vis-à-vis the international ODA target. Through extensive research, the work examines predominant world-views, societal value systems and foreign policy traditions, in order to find the policy drivers that vary nation to nation and how development assistance has evolved globally.

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Frontmatter

Searching for the Policy Drivers of ODA

Frontmatter

Chapter 1. Introduction

Abstract

The chapter introduces the setting of this comparative study on the evolving official development assistance (ODA) of member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the paradigms guiding the research, the methods employed and the main problems posed. What can explain why some countries have followed up on the international ODA target of 0.7% of gross national income (GNI) and beyond, while others have not? The prime focus is on the success stories and the lagging Western hegemon. In answering the core question, attention is directed towards the stated justifications, objectives and guidelines set for the policy—and the follow-up by individual countries. The net is cast wide, searching for altruistic and interest-based traditions and drivers—and the evolving balance between the two.

Olav Stokke

International ODA Targets, Their Follow-Up and Real Value to Recipients

Frontmatter

Chapter 2. The Evolving International Volume Targets

Abstract

The first version of the international volume target—1% of developed countries’ NNI in private and official transfers to the developing countries—was formulated by the UN General Assembly in December 1960 and reinforced the following year in the strategy set for the DD1, the 1960s. During that decade, OECD’s DAC operationalized the target, focusing on the official transfers (0.7% of GNP) and monitored the follow-up by its members. The origin of the idea, and the evolving target during subsequent development decades and into the new century, is described and discussed, with an emphasis on its role in the UN Millennium Development Strategy.

Olav Stokke

Chapter 3. The Follow-Up on the 0.7% Target: A Bird’s-Eye Perspective

Abstract

The chapter provides a description and analysis of the follow-up on the 0.7% target by individual DAC members, decade by decade and into the new century. The major Western countries remained the main providers of ODA in absolute terms (measured in US dollars), but their share of the DAC total declined. This applies especially to the US, which provided more than half of the DAC total in the early years. Overall, the ODA of DAC countries as a share of GNP/GNI declined over the years. Vis-à-vis the 0.7% target, the so-called frontrunners—Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden—made a difference, although their ODA was modest in absolute terms. Their share of the DAC total increased from 2.5% in 1960 to 11.7% in 2016.

Olav Stokke

Chapter 4. What is the Real Value of ODA to Recipients?

Abstract

Political and economic conditions attached to the provision of ODA affect the real value to recipients. The calculated value of credits is based on the conditions under which these are provided (the calculated grant element). But even technical assistance, services and so forth provided as gifts may have a price for recipients in form of procurement tying and other more discreet conditions attached. More recently, this price has been related to donor countries’ concern for a high “return flow” of ODA and to first- and second-generation aid conditionality (economic and political, respectively). This leads us to the norms and objectives set for the provision of ODA and their implementation, and the ways in which the assistance is transmitted—all controversial issues in the aid discourse, especially with the frontrunners.

Olav Stokke

ODA Targets and Policy Determinants: the Frontrunners and the Western Hegemon

Frontmatter

Chapter 5. Denmark: The Pragmatic Frontrunner

Abstract

This chapter casts Denmark’s aid and development policy in the context of its foreign policy traditions. During the formative years, however, its foreign policy was to a large extent compartmentalized. The road towards the 0.7% target was bumpy but characterized by the consensus-seeking efforts of the major political parties. The target was attained in the late 1970s, although the Danish economy was under severe strain. The 1990s represented Denmark’s heyday as aid provider, when the country performed beyond its own 1% target, adapting its policy to the international challenges after the Cold War. Throughout, Denmark’s aid policy was broadly anchored in vested economic interests and in the solidarity norms of the welfare state. Into the new century, however, the broad policy consensus on the aid policy crumbled away.

Olav Stokke

Chapter 6. Norway: Altruism under Strain

Abstract

The first steps were taken in 1952, with an integrated fisheries development project in Kerala (India). However, Norway’s aid policy was first formed in the early 1960s. After a slow start, the 0.7% target was met in 1976 through stepped-up budgetary planning—and its own 1% target in 1978, acclaimed by all political parties represented in Parliament’s committee on foreign affairs. The stated policy, in terms of justifications, objectives and guidelines, has been predominantly altruistic, emphasizing poverty alleviation and the social dimensions of development, and from the late 1980s increasingly also the environment and liberal values. However, as implemented, vested Norwegian interests—particularly export interests—have also been looked after. This balance has been central in the—sometimes heated—political and academic discourse on development assistance.

Olav Stokke

Chapter 7. Sweden: Combining Domestic Values with Neutralism

Abstract

Sweden started on the road towards its own 1% ODA target in the early 1960s. Pushed by political parties in the centre and to the left, the Social Democrat (SD) government met the international target of 0.7% in 1974, as the first OECD country to do so, and its own target a couple of years later. During the late 1960s and early 1970s, the basic structures of Sweden’s aid and development policy were formed. Searching for policy drivers and constraints, this chapter narrates the political tensions and consensus-seeking efforts during these early years and into the present, involving Sweden’s foreign policy traditions and concerns, predominant societal values and trends in its post-WWII economy. The focus is on the balance between idealistic and vested interests.

Olav Stokke

Chapter 8. The Netherlands: Merchant and Clergyman

Abstract

A changed international post-WWII environment and the decolonization process formed the Dutch aid and development policy. During the early years, national interests related to decolonization—along with idealist norms—resulted in a high multilateral component, while bilateral assistance became concentrated on the former colonies. In the mid-1970s, the Netherlands was the second OECD country to meet the international 0.7% target set for ODA, subsequently staying above that level—and at times even exceeding the 1% target. Shifting coalition governments made consensus-seeking a necessity, also involving the aid and development policy. With the emergence of nationalistic and populist political parties, the balance shifted in the new century. This chapter analyses the evolving policy and performance trends.

Olav Stokke

Chapter 9. The United States: The Realist

Abstract

The chapter explores the US’ aid and development policy in search of major policy drivers. Throughout, foreign policy concerns, particularly security, have dominated. Domestic policy concerns have also been influential, particularly in the early years. In the early 1960s—with the Peace Corps, the Alliance for Progress, and the Food for Peace programme—the assistance also called for idealism, particularly within the younger generations, although conceived of in a security policy context. In the early post-WWII years, the US was the major provider of development assistance, prodding its partners to increase their ODA. Since then, the US’ ODA has declined to one of the lowest contributions within the OECD in relative terms. Into the new century, the war on terror has triggered a modest increase in ODA.

Olav Stokke

Analysis and Conclusions

Frontmatter

Chapter 10. The Drivers of ODA: What Can They Tell About the Future?

Abstract

Part Four responds to the research questions posed (Chap. 1), including the major one: what are the main drivers of development assistance and what explains the extensive variation in the performances of individual countries? It starts (Section 1) by addressing one potential driver that almost disappeared under the radar with the countries selected for scrutiny: the impact of the colonial past on their aid policy. The main conclusion: there is no one policy driver but many, varying from one aid-providing country to another, and over time from one government to the next. Nevertheless, countries basing their policy mainly on ideal domestic societal values (solidarity, humanity), and mainly pursuing international common goods rather than self-serving interests, score highest in relative terms as ODA providers.

Olav Stokke

Backmatter

Titel: International Development Assistance
verfasst von: Olav Stokke
Verlag: Springer International Publishing
Electronic ISBN: 978-3-030-06219-4
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-06218-7
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-06219-4