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 this important question 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. Does 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 short-term political interests distort 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.
Does Foreign Aid Really Work?
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This volume is a valuable resource and an important contribution to the literature on foreign aid. (Social and Behavioral sciences )
Riddell provides a compelling and thorough account of the intricacies of foreign aid (International Affairs )
...[an] excellent and significant book... (Alex De Waal, Times Literary Supplement )
...everything anyone might want to know about the subject. (Nigel Grimwade, Times Higher Education Supplement )
For anyone who wants to know more about development assistance, this is a 'must- read'. Roger Riddell provides us with a nuanced and honest outline of past and current aid-flows, their complexities, trends and possible impact. Does aid really work? His answer is a conditional, cautious - yes. And he presents some bold proposals to address some of the systemic weaknesses. It was strong international leadership that delivered the aid-reforms of the 90's. The question is whether the current leaders in development are ready for this debate? (Hilde Frafjord Johnson, former Minister of International Development of Norway )
In this impressive new study, Riddell has surpassed even his distinguished Foreign Aid Reconsidered. It includes a rare and much-needed analysis of emergency and voluntary assistance. Complete and authoritative, the book will have a long life as the definitive account of its important subject. (Professor Robert Cassen, London School of Economics )
This book is a heroic achievement. Not only has Roger Riddell mapped out with great clarity the arcane world of international aid, in a way that will help the practitioner as much as the general reader, he has also produced visionary and challenging recommendations for reform of the system. (Sir Michael Aaronson, former Director General of Save the Children UK )
Riddell provides a compelling and thorough account of the intricacies of foreign aid (International Affairs )
...[an] excellent and significant book... (Alex De Waal, Times Literary Supplement )
...everything anyone might want to know about the subject. (Nigel Grimwade, Times Higher Education Supplement )
For anyone who wants to know more about development assistance, this is a 'must- read'. Roger Riddell provides us with a nuanced and honest outline of past and current aid-flows, their complexities, trends and possible impact. Does aid really work? His answer is a conditional, cautious - yes. And he presents some bold proposals to address some of the systemic weaknesses. It was strong international leadership that delivered the aid-reforms of the 90's. The question is whether the current leaders in development are ready for this debate? (Hilde Frafjord Johnson, former Minister of International Development of Norway )
In this impressive new study, Riddell has surpassed even his distinguished Foreign Aid Reconsidered. It includes a rare and much-needed analysis of emergency and voluntary assistance. Complete and authoritative, the book will have a long life as the definitive account of its important subject. (Professor Robert Cassen, London School of Economics )
This book is a heroic achievement. Not only has Roger Riddell mapped out with great clarity the arcane world of international aid, in a way that will help the practitioner as much as the general reader, he has also produced visionary and challenging recommendations for reform of the system. (Sir Michael Aaronson, former Director General of Save the Children UK )
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.
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
There are lots of books available on and around the subject of foreign aid. As a layperson wanting to better understand this complex and contentious subject I think it is a question of being careful what you read.
'Does Foreign Aid Really Work?' provides a comprehensive and impartial overview of the subject.
I found this book extremely interesting, thought provoking and well constructed.
If there is anything less positive to say it might be that, if you are looking for a light read to 'dip into the subject', this may not be for you. However, I believe that taking this approach would be a false economy in terms of spending time reading some less comprehensive and perhaps partial alternatives.
'Does Foreign Aid Really Work?' provides a comprehensive and impartial overview of the subject.
I found this book extremely interesting, thought provoking and well constructed.
If there is anything less positive to say it might be that, if you are looking for a light read to 'dip into the subject', this may not be for you. However, I believe that taking this approach would be a false economy in terms of spending time reading some less comprehensive and perhaps partial alternatives.
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Riddell's book asks the question: during the last 60 years of foreign aid, has the aid accomplished its purpose? Has it made tangible differences in the lives of other people, and to how large a degree has it done this efficiently? Riddell answers this question by compiling many dozens of investigations of this question over the years, and he approaches the question from many different directions in order to obtain a balanced perspective.
The most notable feature of the book is Riddell's ability to never jump to conclusions. There are few "hard" conclusions in the book, rather Riddell constantly weighs evidence for and against every topic. As he also points out, foreign aid is not a fixed concept, but rather a great many different things. The first 150 pages of the book, actually, consists mostly of a survey of the different forms of foreign aid given, as well as the motivations of governmental and non-governmental organizations for giving aid. In general, Riddell has a very balanced and thorough manner of investigating the world of foreign aid, and he certainly makes it clear that whatever the answer to his main question is, it is certainly not a simple "yes" or "no".
While this thorough manner is laudable, it also in a sense becomes the stumbling block of the book. Riddell's book is possible among the driest, and frankly, most boring books that I have ever read. Through the 400-page dense academic prose, there are only a handful of graphs and tables. Precisely because so many of the answers to questions about foreign aid are not cut in stone, graphical representations of real data instead of references to a plethora of papers would have made the text both more accessible and more lively.... Read more ›
The most notable feature of the book is Riddell's ability to never jump to conclusions. There are few "hard" conclusions in the book, rather Riddell constantly weighs evidence for and against every topic. As he also points out, foreign aid is not a fixed concept, but rather a great many different things. The first 150 pages of the book, actually, consists mostly of a survey of the different forms of foreign aid given, as well as the motivations of governmental and non-governmental organizations for giving aid. In general, Riddell has a very balanced and thorough manner of investigating the world of foreign aid, and he certainly makes it clear that whatever the answer to his main question is, it is certainly not a simple "yes" or "no".
While this thorough manner is laudable, it also in a sense becomes the stumbling block of the book. Riddell's book is possible among the driest, and frankly, most boring books that I have ever read. Through the 400-page dense academic prose, there are only a handful of graphs and tables. Precisely because so many of the answers to questions about foreign aid are not cut in stone, graphical representations of real data instead of references to a plethora of papers would have made the text both more accessible and more lively.... Read more ›
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Although an extremely comprehensive "heavy" academic style book it is written in a way we should all be able to understand. A must read for all involved or interested in alleviating poverty and "development"
2 of 4 people found the following review helpful
By Weisi Guo
Format:Paperback
Riddell weaves together a very ad-hoc and tattered subject spanning local charities, celebrities, governments and global enterprises; to give the reader a view of the state and direction of Development and Charity Aid. Not only are we lavished with a historic view backed by facts and figures, but we are also made aware just how naive we are about poverty. In many ways we are the Columbus to "discover" a new continent, when others have been there and done that. Poverty and Aid as it seems are old acquintences.
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