Development Assistance Committee Members Research Articles

Insights from the COVID-19 pandemic: trends in development assistance committee countries’ aid allocation, 2011–2021

ABSTRACT Background Official Development Assistance (ODA) significantly aids sustainable development in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). However, the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted aid allocation, posing challenges for attaining the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Objective This study explores and underscores the profound implications of shifts in ODA allocation by Development Assistance Committee (DAC) member countries, resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, offering a unique perspective on the evolving landscape of international aid. Methods Drawing from the gross ODA disbursement data for LMICs by DAC member countries from 2011 to 2021, a linear regression analysis assessed the changes in ODA amount, ODA-to-gross national income (GNI) ratio, sectoral aid allocation, and the balance between bilateral and multilateral aid, primarily focusing on the differences pre- and post-COVID-19. For non-specialised multilateral agencies’ core funding, the OECD’s methodology for calculating imputed multilateral ODA was employed to estimate ODA flows. Results The study found an increasing trend in the total ODA provided by DAC member countries from 2011 to 2021. However, the average ODA/GNI ratio showed a slight but significant decrease before the pandemic, followed by an increase after the COVID-19 pandemic. The health sector received the highest percentage of aid after the pandemic, with a marked increase in both bilateral and multilateral aid. However, other sectors such as humanitarian aid, water and sanitation, and energy experienced a significant decrease in sectoral aid share. Conclusions Emerging from this analysis is a strong recommendation for DAC members to re-evaluate aid objectives and escalate their financial commitments to reinforce SDGs and sustainable development efforts. While the rise in health aid is essential, other sectors also require equal focus to offset the ramifications of the COVID-19 pandemic. Understanding the intricacies of aid allocation can improve aid efficacy, culminating in greater, transformative results for recipient countries.

Exploring the Global Innovation Systems Perspective by Applying Openness Index to National Systems of Innovation

This paper raises the question of whether global innovation systems (GIS), the expanded networks of actors beyond national boundaries, could be a new sibling of innovation systems perspectives. We argue that in today’s globalized world, it is idoneous to analyze innovation activities in a global context rather than a national or regional one. To confirm this argument, first, previous research is reviewed to understand how the GIS perspective has emerged and what different aspects have enabled these discussions. Distinct gaps from a body of literature are identified, such as the lack of a united definition, leading causes, and empirical evidence of GIS. With this understanding of the GIS perspective’s background, this research aims to overcome the challenge of filling out these gaps using two-stage approaches. The first approach suggests three building blocks of the GIS perspective (global institutions, global actors and networks, and a global knowledge-base). Using the open innovation concept, the second approach measures the openness of national innovation systems (NIS) of the OECD DAC (Development Assistance Committee) member countries to represent the tangibility of the GIS perspective. The paper concludes that the GIS approach would provide us with a valuable viewpoint for analyzing current innovation activities in today’s globalized economy as the form of GIS perspective is observed when measured.

DAC(Development Assistance Committee)와 한국의 지속가능발전 ODA 및 녹색 ODA 추이 비교*

This study uses the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) data from 1990-2019 to estimate the sustainable development ODA and Environment ODA for DAC member countries. It can be inferred form the sustainable development ODA that DAC member countries spend heavily on SDGs 16 and 9, while Korea spends mostly on SDG 9. This study further expanded on six different definitions of green ODA: sustainable development green ODA, environment marker green ODA, Rio market green ODA, Hicks green ODA, environment and energy green ODA, and green growth ODA. The derivation of the green ODA suggests that DAC member countries constitute 1.6%-15.5% share of the total ODA, the trend of which is increasing, while Korea has about 1.7%-14.7%. Our analysis found that more research regarding green ODA is strongly recommended.

Tracking Development Assistance for Health: A Comparative Study of the 29 Development Assistance Committee Countries, 2011-2019.

Development assistance for health (DAH) is an important part of financing healthcare in low- and middle-income countries. We estimated the gross disbursement of DAH of the 29 Development Assistance Committee (DAC) member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) for 2011–2019; and clarified its flows, including aid type, channel, target region, and target health focus area. Data from the OECD iLibrary were used. The DAH definition was based on the OECD sector classification. For core funding to non-health-specific multilateral agencies, we estimated DAH and its flows based on the OECD methodology for calculating imputed multilateral official development assistance (ODA). The total amount of DAH for all countries combined was 18.5 billion USD in 2019, at 17.4 USD per capita, with the 2011–2019 average of 19.7 billion USD. The average share of DAH in ODA for the 29 countries was about 7.9% in 2019. Between 2011 and 2019, most DAC countries allocated approximately 60% of their DAH to primary health care, with the remaining 40% allocated to health system strengthening. We expect that the estimates of this study will help DAC member countries strategize future DAH wisely, efficiently, and effectively while ensuring transparency.

Does energy aid reduce CO2 emission intensities in developing countries?

ABSTRACT Whether energy aid contributes to the reduction of CO2 emissions in developing countries is an unresolved question. We investigate whether the OECD Development Assistance Committee members’ energy aid can help reduce CO2 emission intensities in 64 recipient countries over the period 1995–2014. We find that once lagged energy aid – when measured in terms of once lagged GDP, in absolute terms, or in terms of once lagged total sectoral aid – is effective in reducing the recipients’ subsequent CO2 emission intensities. Importantly, we find highly varied effects of energy aid on the recipients’ CO2 emission intensities – fossil fuel-rich (poor) countries stand to benefit least (most) from receiving energy aid. Our findings point towards the merit of energy aid as a policy tool in achieving the CO2 emission reduction goals and the necessity for bilateral aid donors to take into account the recipients’ fossil fuel abundance when making provisions for energy aid.

The Turning Point in International Development Cooperation of South Korea

Clarifying how South Korean aid had been changed during the procedures to join Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Development Assistance Committee (DAC), and the background why South Korea made a decision to become a DAC member are the main purposes of this study. Prior researches have identified a few reasons that clarifying emerging donor’s DAC entering mainly focused on external factors. This study describes South Korea’s decision to join DAC had been decided through domestic debates, unlike previous studies. The policy documents and qualitative interviews used to analyze the changes of aid and background in South Korea, especially during the 2000s. In 2005, the South Korean government announced a plan for aid policy reforms by 2010. The establishment of the Committee for International Development Cooperation for comprehensive aid policy‐making expansion of aid volume, and the increase in grant ratio were the major changes in this process. The members involved in Official Development Assistance policy reforms were not only officials but professionals who pursued a career in civil society as well. The Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami in 2004 worked as one of the catastrophic events that pushed Korea to shift to real policy reform, but more than that, there was a social consensus on South Korea’s obligation to become an international donor. Keywords: ODA, Korea, DAC, Emerging donor DOI: 10.7176/JLPG/98-30 Publication date: June 30th 2020

Do economic institutions count in giving aid? Comparative observations on aid allocation between the U.S. and other Development Assistance Committee members

This study identifies whether the quality of recipient countries’ economic institutions was a determining factor in the aid allocation practices of donor nations. Three criteria that would influence aid decision were proposed: recipient institutions (economic and political), donor strategic interest, and recipient need. By examining a panel of 109 countries during 2007–2016, our findings suggest that there is a distinct contrast in the patterns of aid allocation between the U.S. and the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) regarding institutional factors—economic and political institutions—while demonstrating not much difference in terms of donor interest and recipient need. The economic and political institutions negatively influence the amount of aid commitment only for the DAC donors. We presume that they focus more on ex-post conditionality than ex-ante selectivity criteria when it comes to the level of recipient economic and political institutions. In addition, our finding does not support the argument that the U.S. behaves more strategically in aid giving practices (Lumsdaine, 1993; Noël & Thérien, 1995). The U.S. is less responsive to conflict situations and the colonial history of a recipient than the DAC donors are.

Changing facets of leadership in East Asia: globalization, innovation and performance in Japan, South Korea and China

ABSTRACTJapan, South Korea and China are the three juggernauts of the East Asian economy. In gross domestic product terms, China is the world’s second largest economy, Japan the third and South Korea the eleventh. Also, Japan and South Korea are the only two of the OECD’s prestigious Development Assistance Committee members from Asia, providing a large combined annual budget to developing countries, and the only two Asian countries of the seven-member 50–20 Club with members with a population of 50 million or more and a per capita GDP of US$20,000 or more. Many studies have offered explanations of this Asian economic and corporate success, although few have attempted to explain the leadership styles in these three countries. Globalization has also changed these economies enormously, leading to the possible convergence with universalism forces and commensurate globalization of their leadership styles. This collection, therefore, presents some of the most recent findings of leadership studies on Japan, South Korea and China in light of this.

Bargaining matters: an analysis of bilateral aid to developing countries

Conceptualising development assistance as the outcome of aid-for-policy transactions between donors and recipients brings the effect of bargaining power on aid allocation immediately to light. This study provides a two-tiered stochastic frontier analysis that is able to integrate the enquiry into bargaining power with the more traditional literature on aid determinants. By examining the bilateral aid commitment of 23 Development Assistance Committee members of the OECD during the period from 1992 to 2011, I find that donor countries have more bargaining power in surplus division than recipient countries. More specifically, donors have, on average, extracted policy concessions from recipients for about 14 per cent less than their baseline value. Rich variations in the distribution of bargaining power across countries and within individual aid determinants are also analysed and discussed.

Competitive prospects of graduate program on the integration of ICT superiority, higher education, and international aid

Korea overcame the Asian financial crisis (1997–1998) with its governmental policies of informatization and the promotion of the information and communications technology (ICT) industry. It is a nation that has switched its international position from a recipient of international aid to a member of the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC). However, the level of official development assistance (ODA) by Korea is lower than the average of OECD DAC members. As a situational alternative, this study introduced a global information and telecommunication technology program (ITTP) that seems to integrate education on Korea’s superiority in ICT infrastructure and the industry with specialized ODA. In particular, this study analyzed the competitive environment of the ITTP by examining its structural strengths and weaknesses through an analysis of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT). And then, this research illustrated the relationship diagram of major stakeholders and their impact using Porter’s five forces approach. Our analysis suggests that the ITTP needs to specialize in an “ICT for development” (ICT4D) program in the competitive environment of Asian-Pacific universities by combining education with techno-economic infrastructure projects in developing countries.

Estimating China's Foreign Aid 2001–2013

AbstractThis paper aims to estimate China's net foreign aid from 2001 to 2013 as compared with net official development assistance (ODA) figures, which the Organisation for Economic Co‐operation and Development (OECD) Development Assistance Committee (DAC) customarily uses. First, a practical definition to capture China's foreign aid activities as a proxy for China's ODA was proposed. Second, both net and gross disbursements of China's foreign aid were estimated. Third, the results were compared with DAC members' ODA; China's donor ranking has moved up from 16th in 2001 to 6th in 2012 and 2013. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Development assistance for neglected tropical diseases: progress since 2009.

Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) is an umbrella term for a diverse group of debilitating infections that represent the most common afflictions for 2.7 billion people living on less than US$2 per day. Major efforts have recently re-focused attention on NTDs, including structured advocacy by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, technical and political support by WHO and large-scale drug donation programs by pharmaceutical companies. An analysis of the Official Development Assistance (ODA) for NTDs in 2009 showed that Development Assistance Committee members and multilateral donors had largely ignored funding NTD control projects. This study reviews the changes since 2009 and finds an increased engagement by pharmaceutical manufacturers through drug donation programs substantially increased by the 'London Declaration' in 2012, a focused effort of 77 public and private partners on control or elimination of the 10 most common NTDs, but no increase in ODA for NTDs between 2008 and 2012. The allocation of ODA still does not reflect the respective importance of these diseases.

Oda : (A Study on Aid Predictability: Focusing on Multi-Year Rolling Planning and Budgeting Framework)

Korean Abstract: 2011년 제4차 부산세계개발원조총회(HLF 4)에서 모든 협력 대상국가에 대한 3~5년의 중기 연동지원계획(rolling plan)을 2013년까지 제공하기로 하고, 원조예산의 수립절차와 집행계획을 개혁하여 원조의 예측가능성을 높이는 데 국제적인 합의를 도출한 바 있다. 특히 한국은 부산 글로벌 파트너십의 집행위원회에 공여국 대표로 선출되어 부산총회 합의사항 이행을 위한 방안 및 이행계획 수립에 적극적으로 참여하고 있다. 따라서 본 연구는 다른 OECD 개발원조위원회 회원국들이 중기 원조예산을 어떻게 수립하고 이행하는지 비교ㆍ분석하고, 호주의 원조정책을 주요 사례로 ODA 예산절차, 예측성 강화방안을 어떻게 마련하고 있는지를 조사하였다. 이를 통해 한국의 중기 원조예측성 향상 방안에 대한 정책과제와 시사점을 얻고자 다른 주요 선진공여국의 원조예산 및 계획의 운용 메커니즘을 검토하여 원조예산의 효율성을 높일 수 있는 방안을 종합적으로 분석하였다. English Abstract: At the Fourth High Level Forum held in Busan in 2011, OECD Development Assistance Committee(DAC) member countries pledged to ensure that by 2013, they would provide partner countries with rolling three- to five-year indicative forward expenditures and/or implementation plans. Also, they made an agreement to enhance aid predictability by reforming the process of establishing and implementing the aid budget. Nevertheless, a limited number of studies reviewed the donor countries’ ODA budget systems and its operation mechanism to find the way to promote the effective use of the aid budget. This study examines how donor countries establish and implement multi-year aid budgets and applies the results to the Korean ODA budget system in order to improve mid-term aid predictability. The main findings of this study are as follows. First, several DAC members have made efforts to improve mid-term aid predictability by linking the forward strategic spending plans with their ODA budget process. Mokoro Ltd.(2011) has categorized aid planning and budgeting systems of OECD DAC member countries into three types; agency-wide rolling multi-annual programme, agency-wide cliff-edge multi-annual programme, and no agency-wide multi-annual programming with country-level multi-annual programming. Second, the Australian budget system, adopting no agency-wide multi-annual programming with country-level multi-annual programming, is selected as a good example that can be applied to the Korean system. Australia has been reforming its ODA policies since 2010. In order to increase aid effectiveness and predictability, Australia adopted the rolling four-year budget plan, aid budget system by program, and performance evaluation system on achievements of policy objectives. Third, Korea, however, does not present the explicit budget plan in the process of establishing Country Partnership Strategy(CPS). Thus, it is difficult to improve the effectiveness of mid-term plans as well as aid predictability. Moreover, Korea lacks a performance management system that enables reasonable distribution of the ODA budget by gathering feedback on performances of previous projects. The results from this study provide some policy recommendations as follows. First, Korea needs to develop a performance management system for ODA to utilize the feedback on previous performances as the standard of establishing and distributing the aid budget. Second, Korea should improve the budget structure to introduce multi-year ODA planning and mid-term budget system which are suitable for ODA projects that extend periods of time. Third, Korea should reduce the number of priority partner countries from 26 countries to 15 to 20 countries. In addition, consulting with partner countries, Korea should establish a three-year operation plan for each country and priority project support plans to enhance aid predictability.

Creditor Reporting System

This publication presents comprehensive statistics on aid flows in support of water supply and sanitation for the years 2001-2006, including trends in donors' aid and the degree of targeting of countries most in need. Individual donor profiles provide summary statistics in the form of charts and tables, and descriptions of donors' development co-operation policies in the water sector. The publication also records the relevant aid activities reported by DAC members and multilateral institutions to the CRS Aid Activity database (Creditor Reporting System). The information is based on individual commitments and disbursements of Official Development Assistance (ODA) to water supply and sanitation.This edition is the product of collaboration between the Secretariat of the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) and the World Water Council (WWC).This title belongs to OECD Report Series.ISBN: 9781780406107 (eBook)ISBN: 9781843392361 (Print)

International norms and distinctive policy choices in global AIDS funding: Comparative case studies of Norway and Belgium

In response to urgent call for international cooperation against HIV/AIDS, all members of Development Assistance Committee (DAC) converged in foreign aid policy decision for the health crisis within a relatively short period of time frame. However, there also existed variations among the DAC with respect to developing pattern of global AIDS funding. The research attempts to explore both convergence and divergence in the policy choices of global AIDS funding of DAC countries. When it comes to the convergence, it is the mechanism of norms teaching that encouraged the DAC to make financial contribution for the global fight against HIV/AIDS based on the sense of obligation and urgency. With regard to the distinctive pattern of the policy choices, it depends on the different norms stage each country was embedded in. The norms stage was distinctively constituted by each country’s different historical background, political institutions and public opinion. I examine the cases of Norway and Belgium both of which converged in the decision of the foreign aid yet varied in the policy choices of funding increase. Institutional harmonization and policy coherence took place in Norway in the stage of norms internalization, while Belgium launched transformation of institutional structure at the stage of norms acceptance.

DO EMERGING DONORS ALLOCATE AID AS DAC MEMBERS DO? THE CASE OF KOREA IN THE MILLENNIUM ERA

AbstractThis study estimates the responsiveness of Korean aid to recipient countries' socio‐economic development needs and the strategic and commercial interests of Korea, with implications for other emerging and Development Assistance Committee (DAC) donors. For this purpose, fixed effects regression models are used for the allocation of aid by the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) to 157 recipient countries over the period 2004–2008. The results contrast sharply with the trend seen in DAC member countries. KOICA's aid allocations are consistent with neither socio‐economic development and poverty‐reduction objectives of aid, nor much of the strategic and commercial interests of Korea. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Assessing the Aid Effectiveness of the Czech Republic: Commitment to Development Index and Beyond

This paper aims to analyse the Official Development Assistance (ODA) of the Czech Republic and assess whether the country has progressed towards being one of those well-established donors that are members of the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) or whether it has chosen a different direction with reference to its transition experience. The first part of the paper analyses the institutional establishment of Czech ODA and compares it with the OECD DAC management systems of development assistance. The second part of the paper analyses the financial contributions of the Czech development assistance programme and evaluates whether the country complies with internationally agreed commitments. The third part of the paper uses the Commitment to Development Index (CDI) to measure the effectiveness of Czech development assistance. More specifically, the paper focuses on only one component of the CDI – foreign aid. The paper briefly explains the methodology of the component and applies it to the Czech Republic. The results are interpreted and compared with other countries, members of the OECD DAC, for whom the index was computed.

Why Can't We All Just Get Along? The Practical Limits to International Development Cooperation

This paper seeks to explain the factors that inhibit greater collaboration between Development Assistance Committee (DAC) donors and non-DAC donors, arguing that the problem is less about divergent values than about incentives that derive from the politics of today's aid system and architecture, and from different development experiences. It argues that even among like-minded DAC members, progress on aid coordination and cooperation has been disappointing. This augurs badly for advocates of a more harmonious aid system encompassing a broader group of development partners. On this basis, the aid community would be better off defining differential and flexible standards, which permit DAC and non-DAC donors to adhere to those elements most applicable to them. We identify two areas where more collaboration may be feasible. The first is for partner countries to push for greater transparency among donors, which would allow for greater coordination at the recipient country level. The second is to formalise and build on existing triangular cooperation initiatives, which would test the potential for inter-agency trust and learning. Although these areas are narrow, they are concrete ways of taking the first steps towards broader donor collaboration. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Foreign Aid, Institutions, and Governance in Sub‐Saharan Africa

Introduction More than a decade ago, the World Bank argued that “underlying the litany of Africa’s development problems is a crisis of governance.” Poor quality institutions, weak rule of law, an absence of accountability, tight controls over information, and high levels of corruption still characterize many African states today. Aid levels have been reduced in many parts of Africa during the past decade. Yet in many of the countries with poor governance records, aid continues to contribute a very high percentage of government budgets. This article explores the institutional impact of these high levels of aid and the way that large amounts of aid are delivered. There are many reasons why governance is poor in much of sub-Saharan Africa. Colonialism did little to develop strong, indigenously rooted institutions that could tackle the development demands of modern states. Economic crisis and unsustainable debt, civil wars, and political instability have all taken their toll over the past 2 decades and more. It is difficult to separate the impact of these problems from the possible impact of foreign aid, which is often high in countries that suffer from precisely these problems. Theory provides conflicting guidance here. On the one hand, aid can release governments from binding revenue constraints, enabling them to strengthen domestic institutions and pay higher salaries to civil servants. Aid can provide training and technical assistance to build legal systems and accounting offices. In many countries, aid personnel (sometimes expatriate) manage important government programs, and the infusion of resources and technical assistance can give an important boost to the efficiency and effectiveness of governance, if only in a partial sense. Yet despite these likely benefits, it is also possible that, continued over

A Comparison of Management Systems for Development Co-Operation in OECD/DAC Members

The Members of the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) of the OECD have set an ambitious and specific target: reduce by one half the proportion of people living in extreme poverty by 2015. The aid management systems of DAC Members represent key elements in the basic architecture for attaining that goal. A Comparison of Management Systems for Development Co-operation in OECD/DAC Members provides a panaroma of aid management systems of DAC Members. It describes, analyses and compares those systems and provides specific examples. In addition, it presents the main themes of reflection within the DAC with key policy statements.