Publications

October 2013
Article

The Costs of Favoritism: Is Politically-Driven Aid Less Effective?

By: Axel Dreher, Stephan Klasen, James Vreeland and Eric Werker

As is now well documented, aid is given for both political as well as economic reasons. The conventional wisdom is that politically motivated aid is less effective in promoting developmental objectives. We examine the ex-post performance ratings of World Bank projects... View Details

Keywords: World Bank; Aid Effectiveness; Political Influence; United Nations Security Council; International Finance; Prejudice and Bias; Outcome or Result; Projects; Government and Politics; Power and Influence

01 Mar 2014
News

Faculty Q&A: The Future of Foreign Aid

worked for the Millennium Challenge Corporation. Is the MCC development model an effective one? The MCC, a US agency established in 2004, is viewed by many as a success, in part because it aims to depoliticize aid. To be eligible for MCC... View Details

Keywords: foreign aid; Government

October 2006
Article

How Much Is a Seat on the Security Council Worth? Foreign Aid and Bribery at the United Nations

By: Ilyana Kuziemko and Eric D. Werker

Ten of the fifteen seats on the U.N. Security Council are held by rotating members serving two-year terms. We find that a country's U.S. aid increases by 59 percent and its U.N. aid by 8 percent when it rotates onto the council. This effect increases during years in... View Details

Keywords: Foreign Aid; Governance; Value

We use oil price fluctuations to test the impact of transfers from wealthy OPEC nations to their poorer Muslim allies. The instrument identifies plausibly exogenous variation in foreign aid. We investigate how aid is spent by tracking its short-run effect on... View Details

12 Dec 2010
News

Would-be Haitian contractors miss out on aid

16 Oct 2014
News

Innovating for International Aid

little bit of help could make a big difference, and everybody just needs a chance.” Wu got his start in international aid work early. After getting his undergraduate degree from Dartmouth, he worked on development projects in Tanzania and... View Details

Keywords: Constantine von Hoffman

2007
Working Paper

How Is Foreign Aid Spent? Evidence from a Natural Experiment

By: Eric D. Werker, Faisal Z. Ahmed and Charles Cohen

We use oil price fluctuations to construct a new instrument to test the impact of transfers from wealthy OPEC nations to their poorer Muslim allies. The instrument identifies plausibly exogenous variation in foreign aid. We investigate how aid is spent by tracking its... View Details

Keywords: International Finance; Energy Sources; Energy Industry; Asia

January 2002
Case

Global Business Council on HIV/AIDS on World AIDS Day 2001, The

Explores the motivation for businesses to be concerned with the global AIDS epidemic. The formation of the council serves as an example of how business leaders are building a network of companies to develop an effective business response to AIDS-both through workforce... View Details

Keywords: Health; Social Issues; Global Strategy; Business and Community Relations; Growth and Development Strategy; Business and Government Relations; Health Industry

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15 May 2007
Working Paper Summaries

How is Foreign Aid Spent? Evidence from a Compelling Natural Experiment

Keywords: by Eric Werker, Faisal Z. Ahmed & Charles Cohen

24 Mar 2023
News

Exploring Talent Markets; Aid for Turkey

reach out to him to see if he was okay," she says. Relieved that he was, Hammerman then asked if he knew what organization was most effectively delivering aid to survivors. Atabek gave her a name: the Bridge... View Details

Keywords: Margie Kelley

22 Sep 2003
Research & Ideas

How Businesses Can Respond to AIDS

Much like how disruptive technologies can threaten established businesses, the growing epidemic of AIDS has the power to blindside and possibly topple companies who choose to ignore the threat, participants concluded at a Harvard Business... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

24 Mar 2022
Research & Ideas

Why Cutting Jobless Aid Isn't the Answer to Worker Shortages

significant loss of benefits and spending,” says Kluender, who coauthored the recent working paper Early Withdrawal of Pandemic Unemployment Insurance: Effects on Employment and Earnings with HBS research associate Calvin Jahnke; Kyle... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne

March 2018
Case

GiveDirectly

By: John Beshears, Joshua Schwartzstein, Tiffany Y. Chang and Brian J. Hall

How should nonprofits design compensation systems to attract and retain talent? GiveDirectly is a respected charitable organization with an unconventional approach. Instead of spending on traditional aid programs in areas such as health care and food access in... View Details

Keywords: Nonprofits; Charity; Effective Altruism; International Aid; Compensation; Goals; Bonuses; Incentives; GiveDirectly; Compensation and Benefits; Motivation and Incentives; Goals and Objectives; Recruitment; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving

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November 2021
Article

The Nixon Doctrine and the Making of Authoritarianism in Island Southeast Asia

By: Mattias Fibiger

This article argues that the Nixon Doctrine was an instrument of authoritarianization in island Southeast Asia. It traces the formulation of the Nixon Doctrine and its implementation through foreign aid decisions, revealing that President Richard Nixon and his chief... View Details

Keywords: Diplomacy; Foreign Aid; Authoritarianism; Geopolitics; Nixon; International Relations; Policy; History; Southeast Asia; United States

15 Aug 2016
News

Entrepreneurship Needs to Be a Bigger Part of U.S. Foreign Aid

September 2018
Article

Rumors and Refugees: How Government-Created Information Vacuums Undermine Effective Crisis Management

By: Melissa Carlson, Laura Jakli and Katerina Linos

Although more than 800,000 displaced people arrived in Greece by sea in 2015, fewer than 5 percent applied for asylum in this first country of arrival. Instead, they either traveled northward informally or remained in Greece in legal limbo. The resultant chaotic... View Details

Keywords: Refugees; Governance Compliance; Knowledge Dissemination; Policy; Crisis Management; Communication; Greece

13 Jun 2014
News

The Art of Effecting Change

the last 10 to 15 years educating myself on art history and contemporary artists." Evans's philanthropic work also extends to HBS, where she and Bruce, both financial aid recipients, paid forward the assistance they received in the form... View Details

Keywords: Jill Radsken; Arts, Entertainment

2011
Working Paper

The Contingent Effect of Absorptive Capacity: An Open Innovation Analysis

By: Andrew A. King and Karim R. Lakhani

Technological advancement and innovation requires the integration of both external knowledge and internal inventiveness. In this paper, we unpack the concept of absorptive capacity and separately explore the effect of different types of prior experience on the capacity... View Details

Keywords: Experience and Expertise; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Technological Innovation; Knowledge Use and Leverage; Performance Capacity; Technology Adoption

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