Conditional aid can leverage policy reform in poor countries

Evidence

Whereas Bauer rejects the value of aid entirely, Lal does not dismiss the possibility that it can be used to successfully leverage policy reforms. Indeed, when it is made conditional on the adoption and implementation of desirable policy, Lal views aid as the “catalyst which makes sound academic advice politically effective” (1993, 94). — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 1776

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the broader conditionality debate in development economics (World Bank structural adjustment, bilateral aid conditions). — connects to: Foreign aid has made recipient countries poorer rather than stable. — Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 31; Bauer contended aid mainly enriches the wealthy in poor countries — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin: The Making…, 1828; Structural adjustment programs exported expansionary austerity to the developing world with poor results — Mark Blyth, Austerity: The History of a Dangerous…, 439

Broader Connections

• Foreign aid has made recipient countries poorer rather than stable. #complicates (0.80) — Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 31
• Structural adjustment programs exported expansionary austerity to the developing world with poor results #complicates (0.72) — Mark Blyth, Austerity, 439
• Bauer contended aid mainly enriches the wealthy in poor countries #complicates (0.70) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 1828