Do Donors provide higher Aid for Trade flows to Recipient-Countries that Diversify Export Products or Is It the Other Way Around?

Abstract

This article has explored whether Aid for Trade (AfT) flows that accrue to recipient-countries depend on the latter’s level of export product concentration. The analysis covers a sample of 132 countries over the period 2002–2017. The findings indicate that least developed countries (LDCs) receive higher AfT flows when they experience a rise in the level of export product concentration, while NonLDCs enjoy higher AfT flows when they diversify export products. Interestingly, higher amounts of AfT accrue to countries that diversify their export product basket towards manufacturing products, although different result patterns appear for the components of manufactured exports. JEL: F35; F14; O14