Does Foreign Aid Really Work? [Paperback]

Roger C. Riddell (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 15, 2008

Foreign aid is now a $100bn business and is expanding more rapidly today than it has for a generation. But does it work? Indeed, is it needed at all?

Other attempts to answer these important questions have been dominated by a focus on the impact of official aid provided by governments. But today possibly as much as 30 percent of aid is provided by Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), and over 10 percent is provided as emergency assistance.

In this first-ever attempt to provide an overall assessment of aid, Roger Riddell presents a rigorous but highly readable account of aid, warts and all. oes Foreign Aid Really Work? sets out the evidence and exposes the instances where aid has failed and explains why. The book also examines the way that politics distorts aid, and disentangles the moral and ethical assumptions that lie behind the belief that aid does good. The book concludes by detailing the practical ways that aid needs to change if it is to be the effective force for good that its providers claim it is.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Roger Riddell's text provides the single best introduction to the history and range of contemporary debates associated with foreign aid, including the rise of international NGOs as major actors and the centrality of domestic politics to shaping aid practice."--Foreign Affairs

"An excellent and significant book"--Alex De Waal, Times Literary Supplement

"Essential reading for anyone interested in the subject of aid and wishing to be informed about the issues involved."--Times Higher Education Supplement

About the Author

Roger Riddell is a Non-Executive Director of Oxford Policy Management and a Principle of The Policy Practice. He was Chair of the first Presidential Economic Commission of Independent Zimbabwe in 1980, and Chief Economist of the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries from 1981-83. From 1984 to 1998, he was a senior Research Fellow at the Overseas Development Institute, London and for five years to 2004 was International Director of Christian Aid.

Product Details

• Paperback: 536 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (August 15, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0199544468
• ISBN-13: 978-0199544462
• Product Dimensions: 6.1 x 1.1 x 9.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #42,305 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #34 in Books > Business & Investing > Economics > Development & Growth
  • #63 in Books > Business & Investing > Industries & Professions > Information Management

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Review of Development Literature! December 27, 2009

By foodieman

Format:Paperback

Riddell has done an excellent job to update his earlier work - Foreign Aid Reconsidered (a seminal work) to include the massive changes in aid that have occurred in the past 20 years, especially the shift to NGOs.

His depth of knowledge, both firsthand and theoretical, of development is clear from the very start. It is clearly a very, very well researched book.

The question he aims to answer is obviously huge, and he makes it quite clear that there are no yes/no answers. He deftly avoids over-generalizing, but does an incredible job to work with the limited and biased data that exists on development.

The greatest strength of the book is really as a massive, 500 page literature review. He is able to sum up, in a very readable way, the major debates on development's efficacy. In the end, he presents a very well thought out normative set of suggestions on how to fix many of the problems he highlights about aid - a refreshing piece of concrete steps (which he admits readily are only the framework, and subject to much debate). Yet I think it's very important to point out that, despite his catchy title, this is not your run of the mill, "How to End Poverty in 10 Years With MicroHydro" book. This is a scholarly work that looks at all aspects of aid, even though it seems aimed at a wider audience. There are no easy answers, but Riddell's analysis is penetrating.

Overall, its an excellent piece of critical development scholarship, and comes highly recommended for anyone interested or involved in development, from NGOs to academia. He plows through the numerous, unfounded myths that go both for and against aid through detailed reasoning and evidence. He avoids the trivial, surface level problems and goes straight to the systemic contradictions of aid.

If I was to sum up the message of the book in a few words - and answer the question of the title - it would be that, to Riddell, aid is working, but not nearly as well as it could.