Development Aid Projects Research Articles

Is Foreign Aid Responsive to Environmental Needs and Performance of Developing Countries? Case Study of the Czech Republic.

This paper examines the responsiveness of foreign aid to environmental needs and performance of developing countries using, as an example, the Czech Republic. It focuses on the environmental component of foreign aid, which is defined as the development intervention of the Czech Government, which can be expected to have positive environmental impacts in target countries. The provision of environmental aid is based on the assumption that the Czech Republic has practical, transferable experience of qualitative improvements in the environment following the collapse of communist regime. Flows of environmental aid were determined by analyzing and categorizing individual development aid projects in the period 2000 to 2015. Regression analyses were employed to explain the pattern of Czech environmental aid allocations. The results show relatively limited reflection of the recipient’s environmental needs in the distribution of Czech environmental aid. Only two environmental objectives were significantly echoed in actual aid flows. The first was transfer of advanced environmental technologies and reductions in energy consumption, approximated by carbon dioxide emissions per capita. The second was protection of biodiversity, represented by the extinction risk of sets of species. The other five objectives did not play significant roles in environmental aid allocations. Above that, other factors not related to the environmental needs and performance of recipient countries affected Czech environmental aid. Among them, historical ties to other former communist countries were of high significance. The findings call into question the environmental objectives of Czech foreign aid and point to the need for transparent criteria for the allocation of environmental aid.

A Study of Urban Poverty in Developing Countries and KOICA Urban Development Aid Projects (Based on SDGs)

연구목적: 전 세계 인구의 급격한 증가와 유례없는 도시화로 인해 아시아 및 아프리카 개발도상국의 도시빈곤 문제가 심화하고 있다. 이를 위한 국제사회의 관심이 집중되고 있으며, SDGs에 11번 도시 목표를 포함하여 포용적이고, 안전하며, 회복력있는 지속 가능한 도시를 통한 도시빈곤 및 도시의 발전방향을 조명하고 있다. 따라서 연구 목적은 개발도상국의 경제성장과 사회복지 향상을 위한 한국 ODA의 도시화 및 도시 문제에 대한 대응 현실과 적절한 도시개발원조 지원여부를 분석함에 있다. 연구의 중요성: 본 연구는 ODA 개발협력과 도시분야의 융합적 시각으로 개발도상국의 급속한 도시화에 따른 한국ODA 도시사업 변화를 촉구함에 있어 의미가 있다. 또한 도시분야 전략의 SDGs 정합성에 대하여 실증데이터를 바탕으로 무상원조 지원 방향의 정책적 함의를 도출함에 의의가 있다. 연구방법론: KOICA 중점협력국의 도시화 및 도시 빈곤 현황을 분석하였고, 이를 통해 도시개발의 중요성이 높을 것으로 판단되는 7개국을 선정하였다. 2009년부터 2013년까지 5년간 형성된 KOICA의 도시개발 사업 비율과 선정된 7개국의 도시빈곤 데이터와 각 국가의 도시빈곤율의 정합성을 비교함으로써, 한국의 무상원조가 개발도상국의 도시화 및 도시빈곤 문제에 어느 정도 대응하고 있는지 비교분석하였다. 연구결과: 7개국의 도시빈곤과 KOICA도시사업 지원 비율 비교에서 모든 국가의 도시슬럼 빈곤비율이 더 높은 것으로 분석되었고, 특히 방글라데시, 나이지리아, DR콩고는 도시사업이 전혀 없어 도시화 대응에 취약함을 드러냈다. 결론 및 시사점: 현재 진행형이며 가까운 미래에 급격히 직면할 전 지구적 도시 문제에 대한 대응과 개발도상국의 도시 빈곤 퇴치를 위해 한국의 ODA사업도 문제를 인식하고, 이에 대한 도시개발 전략의 수립과 지원 강화를 하여야 할 시점이다. 이를 위하여 국제개발협력 분야와 도시 분야의 융합적 시각으로 현안을 직시하며, 변화하는 패러다임을 읽고 대응할 수 있는 가치 촉구한다는 측면에서 본 연구가 갖는 의의가 있다.Purpose: Growing urban poverty and an increasing number of climate change disasters connected with rapid urbanization have created the need for global strategic readjustment. To reflect this trend, SDGs involve urban strategies to create cities that are inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable human settlements. The purpose of this thesis is to compare and analyze how KOICA s ODA projects, for economic growth and improving social welfare in developing countries, cope with urbanization changes and urban problems. Originality: This results call for a change in KOICA s urban projects from the combined perspective of urban development and ODA, owing to the rapid urbanization in developing countries. It also presents policy implications for the direction of support for grant projects based on empirical data on SDGs’ involvement of urban strategy. Methodology: The method of analysis is comparison of urban and rural poverty ratios at the national poverty line, and of the urban slum population ratios for seven selected countries. The sample projects considered in the analysis are KOICA urban development grant project over the five years from 2009 to 2013 years. Result: The findings shows that over the study’s five year period, the urban slum ratio in all of the seven countries analyzed was higher than the urban project budget ratio. In particular, there were no direct urban projects in Bangladesh, Nigeria, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The results show that the KOICA projects are not sufficient to support rapidly urbanizing developing countries. Conclusion and Implication: It is time to convert the recolonization on urban poverty issues and establish strategy for urban development projects to overcome the urban problems being confronted and to reduce urban poverty. In terms of these integrated thoughts about development, cooperation and urban issues are able to play an essential part in changing the urbanization paradigm.

New Labour’s overseas development aid policy – charity or self-interest?

ABSTRACT Robin Cook argued that New Labour’s foreign policy would have ‘ethical dimensions’,(Cook, “Robin Cook’s Speech on the Government’s Ethical Foreign Policy.”) and an assumption is often made, within existing literature, that this is an accurate statement when considering the overseas development agenda of New Labour government’s between 1997 and 2010. Tingley argues that the more left-wing a party, the more likely they are to increase attention on, and funding of, overseas development aid (ODA) projects.(Tingley, “Donors and Domestic Politics.”) This article uses the New Labour governments, from 1997 to 2010, as a case study to test the argument of Tingley and determines that his conclusions are accurate in the case of the UK. This article will then argue, using the work of Breuning that the motivations of the New Labour governments, and the way they conveyed their policy to the electorate changed overtime rather than remaining morally focused for the duration of their time in power.(Breuning, “Words and Deeds.”) By focusing on the rhetoric of the Labour Party, the changes in motivation can be identified in the period 1997–2010, with a distinct move from moral justifications to more self-interested pragmatic reasoning, which confirms Breuning’s argument.

TURKEY IN SOUTH-SOUTH COOPERATION: NEW FOREIGN POLICY APPROACH IN AFRICA

It is a fair treatment, without any exaggeration, to argue that the rise of Turkey in Africa in multiple areas as an actor is rather novel for foreign policy of Ankara. From development assistance to economy, politics to security, Turkey is now an influential player in African politics. Turkey’s Africa policy has more meaning than a normal foreign policy relation. It is also a mature deepening of South- South cooperation (SSC) in Turkish foreign policy. One of the most novel parts of Turkey’s foreign policy since 2002 is its endeavor to be part of the South-South cooperation and increase its visibilities in development aid projects. This involvement - both at state and NGO levels - is particularly palpable on the African continent. Rather than following the footsteps of other countries, such as traditional donors, Ankara has been trying to develop its own understanding and implementation - the Turkish way - based on experiences mostly gained from Balkans and Central Asian republics. These dimensions explain Turkey’s development policy at ideational, societal and institutional levels in Somalia and beyond in Africa. Religion along with trade is one of the key drivers of this policy at societal and state levels. At ideational front, there has been a new geographical imagination in Turkey that sees Africa from a totally different perspective comparing to a decade ago.

Analysis on Korea ODA for Governance Sector from the Perspective of Development Effectiveness

본 연구는 개발효과성 달성을 위해서 영향력(impact), 주인의식(ownership), 적절성(relevance), 포용성(inclusiveness) 원칙이 필요하다고 보고, 한국의 공공행정 분야 공적개발원조사업(ODA)이 네 가지 기준에 비춰 어떤 특징을 나타내는지 분석한 뒤 개선방향을 제시하였다. 첫째, 영향력 면에서 공공행정 분야 ODA 사업들은 최근 오히려 원조사업이 소규모화되고 있어 영향력을 발휘하기에는 부족한 점이 있었다. 둘째, 주인의식 면에서 수원국 시스템을 활용한 원조를 통해 수원국이 정책과정에 참여하도록 해야 함에도 불구하고 아직 수원국 시스템을 이용한 원조는 초기 단계에 불과하였다. 셋째, 수원국의 발전전략과 발전단계에 적절성을 갖추었는지를 공공행정 분야 ODA 중 가장 많은 비중을 차지하는 전자정부 사업을 대상으로 살펴본 결과, 공급자 위주의 고도화된 시스템 지원사업을 실시하고 있는 경우가 여전히 존재하고 있었다. 끝으로 시민사회와 민간의 행위자들의 참여를 보장하여 포용성 확보해야 함에도 불구하고 공공행정분야 원조사업은 아직 공공부문 참여자에 의존하는 경향이 있었다. 따라서 향후 정책개선방향으로서 수원국 재정시스템을 활용한 원조 및 프로그램형 원조로의 전환, 거버넌스 분야의 수원국 정책대화 참여와 수원국의 발전전략에 부합하는 성과 프레임워크 도입 등을 제안하였다.Development effectiveness is supported by four principles: Impact, Ownership, Relevance, and Inclusiveness. Based on this framework, it analyzes South Korea’s grant aid projects in the area of public administration and presents policy recommendations. Findings of this study confirm that South Korea’s Official Development Aid (ODA) projects for public administration are too small in scale to have tangible impact. Moreover, projects that aim to instill a sense of ownership among recipient countries were still at an elementary stage, marked by failures to build on local financial systems. Although it has been tried to provide development aid according to the level of development in recipient country, this practice has yet to be fully established in African regions or some of Least Developed Countries (LDCs) by providing high-tech e-government system from the perspective of supplier-oriented. Lastly, aid earmarked for public administration was still highly dependent on the public sector, rather than guaranteeing inclusiveness and diversity based on multiple stakeholder participation. Results of the analysis above reveals a pressing issue concerning aid projects in the area of public administration. Specific policy suggestions are also identified, such as development of ODA that utilizes local systems of the recipient country, the transition to program-based aid, participation of policy dialogue on governance and establishment of a result framework and performance evaluation system that considers national development strategies of the recipient country.

The development of the glass industry in central Vietnam

Abstract A modern society is characterized by functional infrastructure and sufficient number and variety of materials in the form of various technical goods. All these civilization achievements are not only the result of human skills, but their material principles are based on industrial minerals. This group of materials includes a wide range of the natural raw materials which are used in many industries. This includes the raw materials for the manufacture of glass, ceramics or fillers. In 2014 was complete three-year international development aid project under the title “The Development of the Glass Industry in Central Vietnam”. The aim of the project was to find suitable sources of raw materials in formulations for glass production based on previously proven Phong Dien deposit of glass sand. Works carried out for the Czech Development Agency the GET Company from Czech Republic, Prague. In addition to the optimisation of the glass batch, detailed technological research was also implemented with the goal of achieving the full utilisation of Vietnamese raw materials for the manufacture of high quality glass. The production programme may be varied - focusing not only on the purest crystal type glass, but also on flat glass and container glass and even coloured glass.

Language policy and development aid: a critical analysis of an ELT project

ABSTRACTThis paper highlights the political and ideological entanglements of language policy and English language teaching with neocolonialism, neoliberalism, and development aid. It does so by examining the explicit and implicit goals and practices of an educational development aid project in Mindanao, Philippines. The US-funded Job Enabling English Proficiency (or JEEP) project claimed to improve the standard of English in the region through the introduction of imported educational materials and classroom configurations. However, we show how English-only policy, “native-speakerism,” and the use of repetition as a dominant language learning practice in the classroom are all implicated in the politics of neocolonialism in Mindanao. The paper makes a case for language policy as a lens through which the intricacies of development aid in neocolonial conditions may be tracked, critiqued, and transformed.

Nothing succeeds like success narratives: a case of conservation and development in the time of REDD

ABSTRACTThis article provides a case study of a project in Kondoa, Tanzania under the programme Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD). It demonstrates how a success narrative came to dominate presentations about the project as a multi-win involving not only climate change mitigation and biodiversity conservation, but also benefits for local people and poverty reduction. Based on repeated fieldwork using qualitative methods, we find that there is lack of evidence to substantiate the success claims. These claims are in particular based on the assertion that a component of ‘conservation agriculture’ was successfully implemented as compensation for forest enclosure. Gaps between claims and evidence are often exhibited in the scholarship on political ecologies of conservation in Africa, as well as by observers of development aid projects. But how can such gaps be explained? We suggest taking the interests of the actors behind the project as a point of departure, including how individuals as well as organisations have stakes in marketing a success narrative. Furthermore, we argue that an unsubstantiated success narrative of an aid project can be maintained only when there is a lack of structures to ensure independent and adequate examinations of the project by evaluators and researchers. In this case, Norway was the funder of the project, and as the dominant funder of REDD, the Norwegian government has a particular interest in reproducing REDD success narratives, since the credibility of the country’s climate mitigation policy depends on REDD being a success. In addition, the case study demonstrates how ‘success projects’ emerge in the wake of new development fads.

The Architecture of Nation-building in Africa as a Development Aid Project: Designing the capital cities of Kinshasa (Congo) and Dodoma (Tanzania) in the post-independence years

After independence in the early 1960s, new nation states in sub-Saharan Africa started a long and often ambiguous process of nation-building. This process of nation-building was also literally a process of building as the newly independent states initiated large-scale building projects by which they aspired to represent their power in the urban space, as well as break with the material legacies of the colonial past. Yet, even though the new regimes strived for new norms and forms to express their identity as new and independent Africans states, because of a lack of expertise and funds, they mostly commissioned foreign architects within the framework of development programs, thereby clearly mirroring colonial practices. This article retraces the intricate web of foreign development experts and networks of aid underpinning the ‘architecture of nation-building’ in two post–independence capital cities: Kinshasa (DRCongo) and Dodoma (Tanzania). This comparative analysis brings to the fore the various motives behind the foreign investments in the African nation-building projects in an era dominated by Cold War antagonism, as well as the diverse strategies deployed by African states to turn the competing networks of Cold War solidarity to their own advantage. Considering the vast reliance on development aid, I argue that the ‘architecture of nation-building’ in Kinshasa and Dodoma is not primarily representing national identity, but is foremost an expression of the new ‘partnerships in development’ concluded in the post-independence years, as well as the failure of these partnerships in terms of achieving the initial development goals. Moreover, bearing in mind China’s role in the implementation, I state that while the ‘architecture of nation-building’ in both cities clearly represents the regime of development aid, it does so in a way that profoundly differs from what was originally intended.

The Paradox of Water Management Projects in Central Asia: An Institutionalist Perspective

After the disintegration of the Soviet Union, the Central Asian countries have been faced with numerous development challenges in agriculture, especially those related to water use. Well-intentioned foreign donors and development agencies have stepped in to support local farmers, research centers, and public authorities in devising innovative solutions. Yet, development aid projects have borne fruit only partially. Paradoxically, innovative and apparently useful technologies proposed by foreign donors have rarely and only partially succeeded in taking root in the local institutional contexts. To explain this paradox, this paper draws on the institutional approach which shows the possibility of technological innovations being encapsulated by dysfunctional institutions. Reviewing recent studies of water-related projects in Central Asia, the paper shows this encapsulation to be at the core of the development project failures pervasive both in the Soviet period and today. If the concept of encapsulation is valid, then the current development efforts can be made more effective by detecting and counteracting the structures of vested interest on the part of all the actors involved, such as foreign donors, public authorities, research centers and local farmers.

Information and donations to development aid projects

We conduct a dictator game where the participants donate money to development aid projects. By varying the project information, we study the impact of different categories of project information on donations. The results are consistent with the literature finding a link between tangibility and generosity. In general, more information about the development projects increase the donations, however, the increase is contingent upon the type of information. For example, recipient and thematic information has on average a significant effect on the donation, while regional information does not.

Why do medium- and large-scale farmers succeed practicing CA and small-scale farmers often do not? – experiences from Paraguay

Conservation agriculture (CA) is defined as a system comprising no or minimum mechanical soil disturbance, permanent organic soil cover, and crop species diversification [FAO. (2014). What is Conservation Agriculture? FAO CA website, consulted on 15.09.2014. Retrieved September 15, 2014, from http://www.fao.org/ag/ca/1a.html]. The vast majority of medium- and large-scale farmers in Paraguay and neighbouring countries (Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay) who use tractor-based farming systems have moved from conventional agriculture and adopted CA through no-tillage technologies. Among this farmer type, very few wish to return to the old system of tillage agriculture. However, despite massive efforts to transmit the technology to small-scale farmers by development aid projects and local governments, widespread adoption of CA has not happened on farms that use animal traction or manual farming systems; in fact significant dis-adoption of CA practices by smallholders has occurred. Some of the reasons for this dynamic are analysed in this paper. The reasons for dis-adoption by small-scale farmers can be generally divided into two groups. One group has to do with the fact that, comparatively, small-scale farmers are less able to cope with the factors related to CA (e.g. degraded soils, recuperating and maintaining soil fertility and know-how) than medium- and large-scale farmers. The second group of reasons has to do with the approaches and strategies that development aid agencies and local governments have taken towards small-scale farmers, which have influenced small-scale farmers’ ability to adopt and maintain CA practices. Small-scale farmers’ main asset is the soil and the CA/no-tillage system is a knowledge-based, learning-intensive system. However, despite the technical support provided by aid agencies and local governments, small-scale farmers often lack a deeper understanding of the CA concepts and practices. This is attributable to the short- to medium-term and rather conservative transfer-of-technology approaches that have been applied by development aid agency and local government programmes over the years, without any changes and without adaptive research. The latter can be derived, for instance, from the accountability of results to donor agencies or the one-size-fits-all approach applied in order to achieve ‘numbers’. One consequence of this is that ownership by and empowerment of farmers is often absent among dis-adopters. It therefore seems more suitable to apply long term, adaptable approaches to CA with smallholders. The lessons learned in Paraguay may well serve to properly direct future development intervention efforts in this country and also serve to mend development strategies in other countries in South and Central America, Africa or Asia.

How to Assess the Effectiveness of Development Aid Projects: Evaluation Ratings versus Project Indicators

AbstractMost studies on project‐based aid effectiveness rely on subjective evaluation ratings to measure projects' performance. Using the example of drinking water projects, this study compares evaluation ratings to objective, quantitative project indicators based on water supply to better understand the drivers of evaluation ratings. We find that evaluation ratings are only weakly correlated with improvements in water supply. Whereas the water supply‐based project indicators are best explained by project design variables, evaluation ratings put more weight on project management and implementation. © 2015 UNU‐WIDER. Journal of International Development published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Connecting the Characteristics of International Volunteer Experiences with Their Impacts: A Canadian Case Study

The direct relationship between international volunteer experiences and impacts has rarely been explored and yet is important for understanding why certain impacts occur in the lives of volunteers upon returning home. This information helps organizations to develop effective international volunteer programs. This interpretive case study of the Nova Scotia-Gambia Association’s volunteer program explores the interactions between motivations, experiences, and impacts of volunteers who participate in short-term, development aid projects. It utilizes qualitative interviews and participant observation with recent volunteers and interviews with past alumni to understand these relationships. The findings identify three distinct types of volunteer narratives connecting experiences and impacts—personal, professional, and negative categories. The key characteristics of the experience are living situations and conditions, location selection, work placement options, and non-work related activities, frame experiences and effect impacts, influencing the nature of the narrative. Narratives are also strongly influenced by volunteer personalities and characteristics of the local culture.

Front and Back Covers, Volume 31, Number 1. February 2015

Anthropology TodayVolume 31, Issue 1 p. i-ii Covers Front and Back Covers, Volume 31, Number 1. February 2015 First published: 26 January 2015 https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8322.12149AboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat Abstract Front and back cover caption, volume 31 issue 1 Front cover CHINESE DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE The front cover shows a Chinese foreman, a migrant worker from Anhui province, and two Ethiopian labourers, working on a ditch along a road under construction in southeastern Tigray, northern Ethiopia, 2 December 2011. China's engagement with Africa is based on ‘win-win cooperation’, Chinese diplomats claim, and is therefore fundamentally different from Western initiatives on the African continent. However, the situation on the ground tells another story. In this issue, Miriam Driessen offers a glance at daily life on Chinese road building sites in Ethiopia, revealing the striking parallels between Chinese development activities in Ethiopia and Western aid. Central to these parallels is the profound discrepancy between the expectations of Chinese workers prior to migration and the much less rosy realities faced on the construction site. Convinced of the goodwill nature of their activities, Chinese migrants were puzzled by the apparent ingratitude of local Ethiopians, their lack of cooperation, and, worse, repeated attempts to sabotage the building work. In this regard, Chinese struggles with development assistance in Ethiopia strike a familiar chord when we consider the reception of Western aid projects in Africa and elsewhere. Not new is the hiatus between optimistic and sometimes presumptuous development narratives and the frustration that follows in the face of the realities on the ground. Chinese struggles with development assistance in Ethiopia prove, once again, that development aid projects often do not work out as anticipated, because abstract and simplistic development policies may fail to fit complex realities. Back cover UNDOCUMENTED, UNACCOMPANIED MINORS IN US CUSTODY A rescue from the Rio Grande River: US Customs and Border Protection provide assistance to unaccompanied children after they have crossed the border into the United States. Until recently, news stories on immigration have exposed the appalling conditions of adult immigration detention facilities and chronicled the massive enforcement machinery that has resulted in record numbers of deportations since 2008. However, they have largely ignored the plight of unaccompanied Mexican and Central American children who cross the border alone, are apprehended by immigration authorities, and land in federal custody. The frenzied media coverage of desperate young migrants crossing the border in the summer of 2014 has galvanized the public but also created powerful myths about who these children are, why they are coming to ‘El Norte’, and what we need to do with them after their apprehension. In this issue, Susan Terrio tells the story of the Central American and Mexican migrants who are driven from home by violence and deprivation and embark alone, risking their lives on the perilous journey north. They suffer coercive arrests at the US border, land in detention, and wage an uphill battle to obtain legal status. It sheds light on a shadowy juvenile detention system run by the US government that has escaped public scrutiny for years. It shows how the government got into the business of detaining children and what we can learn from this troubled history. Volume31, Issue1February 2015Pages i-ii RelatedInformation

How Modernization Instigates Social Change

This research examines how technology usage can instigate social change in a developing country. We expected that technology usage leads to changes in modern cultural values and attitudes toward gender equality while traditional values persist. This was tested in an information and communication technology (ICT) for Development Aid project among Ethiopian children who had received a laptop. A longitudinal field experiment compared children who received a laptop ( n = 573) with a matched control group without a laptop ( n = 485). Measures were taken before laptop introduction and 6 months later. Laptops had medium to strong effects on value and attitude change, particularly in rural areas. Children with laptops endorsed modern values more strongly, but traditional values were bolstered as well. Modern value change mediated the effect of laptop usage on the endorsement of gender equality. Theoretical and practical implications for cultural changes related to gender equality are discussed.

Full Employment Target: What Lessons for a Post-2015 Development Agenda?

Traditional development aid interventions, as formulated in the Millennium Development Goals, might not be the most effective response for the poor to grow out of poverty due to the triple crises of nutrition, finance and environment, in addition to the changing geopolitical landscape. New challenges therefore need to be confronted in a post-2015 agenda, which could be the best part of a global social contract in which all concerns should therefore be discussed in order to reach the goal of full and productive employment. Coherent policies both at national and international levels are needed that go far beyond concerns of development aid and successful technical assistance projects. The challenge is to have these policies well articulated in a post-2015 development agenda, otherwise full employment would remain a lofty and elusive goal.

Broadening the Scope of Societal Change Research: Psychological, Cultural, and Political Impacts of Development Aid

To date, the study of societal change in social and political psychology has been dominated by an intergroup relations research agenda. But in addition to intergroup dynamics, there are other major pathways to societal change and emancipation, which are almost never systematically considered in psychological research. The distribution of technologies (e.g., “ICT for development”) or money (e.g., microcredits) are among the supposed drivers of societal change. Many development aid projects are anchored in expectations about the effect that such instruments have on anticipated primary goals and the emancipation of particular groups (such as women). In the current paper, we begin by reviewing theories in the field of social change. Social psychological theories mainly address the conditions under which social change stimulated by intergroup dynamics is likely to occur, while other mainly historical and sociological research has focused on the role of different technologies as drivers of social change in history. Next, we review recent research focusing on the anticipated primary goals and (often) unanticipated psychological and cultural changes resulting from development aid interventions, presenting two examples of such interventions in Ethiopia and Sri Lanka in more detail. We suggest that (1) development aid projects can instigate profound psychological and cultural change and (2) that the pathways to such changes are markedly different from those traditionally examined in the literature. At the political level, we reflect on the unanticipated side effects of development aid. We conclude with some recommendations for practice following from the research described.

Organizational Learning Capability: Theoretical Analysis and Empirical Study in the Context of Official Development Aid Project Teams

AbstractAlthough several studies have investigated Organizational Learning Capability (OLC), the question of its operationalization remains open. We review the OLC concept, analyze its relationship to Organizational Learning (OL), and assess the validity of its operationalization through three models (formative, reflexive, mixed). While part of the literature states that OLC has five dimensions (experimentation, risk taking, dialogue, interaction with stakeholders, and participation in decision making), our exploratory study of 41 Official Development Aid projects suggests the existence of an important sixth dimension for OLC: autonomy vis‐à‐vis the national supervisor. The theoretical and practical implications of this finding are then discussed. Copyright © 2013 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Eliciting Donor Preferences

Most charity organizations depend on contributions from the general public, but little research is conducted on donor preferences. Do donors have geographical, recipient, or thematic preferences? We designed a conjoint analysis experiment in which people rated development aid projects by donating money in dictator games. We find that our sample show strong age, gender, regional, and thematic preferences. Furthermore, we find significant differences between segments. The differences in donations are consistent with differences in donors’ attitudes toward development aid and their beliefs about differences in poverty and vulnerability of the recipients. The method here used for development projects can easily be adapted to elicit preferences for other kinds of projects that rely on gifts from private donors.