The Market for Aid [Paperback]

Michael U. Klein (Author), Tim Harford (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0821362283 | ISBN-13: 978-0821362297 | Publication Date: June 2005

In an accessible style Michael Klein and Tim Harford analyze some of the hot topics in the aid industry today. They argue that the aid industry is changing, old models of aid are under pressure, and both donors and recipients will ask more and more of aid agencies in the future. The chaos of competition and the search for new ideas are frightening to some and risk harming the people whom the industry is supposed to benefit. Yet at the same time there is a tremendous opportunity for harnessing competition to improve performance and find better ways of helping the poor. Klein and Harford argue for rigorous methods of evaluation and creative use of the private sector to produce a more effective aid industry in which new experiments are encouraged.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Klein is vice-president for private sector development for the World Bank and for the International Finance Corporation, as well as the IFC's chief economist; Harford is an economist at the IFC. Together, they offer an analysis of the global aid industry intended for policy makers operating at their level, but who don't necessarily know the mechanics of global aid dispersion. After describing how aid is dispensed within the framework of a competitive market ("competition in the market for aid is increasing, but... not yet intense," they note), the authors go on to discuss how poor and middle-income countries handle and restructure their debt and the various types of aid that countries rely upon, including grants and loans from aid agencies as well as private money from foreign direct investment, banks and nongovernmental organizations. Case studies of Somalia and Cambodia show the gears of the system grinding all the way through, and are used by the authors to advocate for private sector involvement. While an informative resource for economists, this is not a book for those with a merely casual interest in the subject of global aid.
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Product Details

• Paperback: 120 pages
• Publisher: World Bank Publications (June 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0821362283
• ISBN-13: 978-0821362297
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.4 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,380,862 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Poorly selected title and conceptual framework for an interesting topic, July 22, 2006

By 

Charles Liu - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Market for Aid (Paperback)

Any serious reader would be curious about the definition of "market for aid" before reading this little book. I began with doubt on the concept and ended with disappointment and even frustration. Yes, there are demand and supply for aid. However, many sources of aid come without a price. The authors do not start by making a careful distinction between grants and concessional loans that bear interest rates lower than market rates. They simply say "If there is a market for aid, it is a strange one" and then move on. Worse yet, their analyses often mix up aid with private loans and foreign direct investment, without making an important distinction between the social objective of aid and the commercial objective of private finance. It is laughable to read the heading "Can aid agencies be smarter than the invisible hand?" The authors appear to forget that aid agencies are in development business, not business. To be fair to the authors, the book presents a large amount of useful information and data, touches upon many serious quesions, and provides some useful ideas and policy recommendations. But the book suffers badly from a poor conceptual framework that gives reader an impression that the authors attempt to fit the rich stories of development business into a simple "Economics 101" framework. It would have been a success if the authors just focus on the political economy of grants and concessional loans. In comparison, William Easterly's "Elusive Quest for Growth" is 10 times more worthwhile to read.