Deforestation is a phenomenon that has largely been concentrated in the developing world. We construct a theoretical model of deforestation that focuses on the factors affecting the incentives to transform forested land into agricultural land. We show that: (i) lower discount rates and stronger...

The aim of this paper is to examine the main reasons how aid can contribute to poverty reduction, the channels through which it can do so and the lessons of the literature on these issues, with a special focus on the way aid can address the vulnerability faced by many developing countries.

In response to the need expressed by the UN General Assembly, an economic vulnerability index (EVI) has been defined by the Committee for Development Policy. The present paper, which refers to this index, first examines how a structural economic vulnerability index can be designed for the...

State fragility is a concept that emerged among the international community of donors in order to adapt aid policies to particularly difficult situations. Fragility has thus been measured to design a special treatment in favour of fragile states, otherwise left behind. In this context, but...

The aim of the note is, following the previous work of the Committee for Development Policy (CDP) (United Nations 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006) as well as my related papers and my forthcoming book on the Least Developped Countries (LDCs) (Guillaumont, 2004a, 2004b, 2006, 2007a, 2007b), to...

This paper assesses the effect of economic instability on the success of the projects funded by the World Bank, using the outcome of the projects, which is a notation of their overall success determined by the Independent Evaluation Group. It has been argued in macro economic studies that aid...

In previous papers we have argued that aid is likely to mitigate the negative effects of external shocks on economic growth (i.e. that aid is more effective in countries which are more vulnerable to external shocks). Recently an important debate has emerged about the possible negative effects of...

The recent literature on the determinants of poverty changes across countries has been focused on the change of average level of income per capita and its distribution, generally measured by a Gini coefficient. While the instability of income is more and more considered as an explaining factor...

We examine whether absorptive capacity represents a valid reason to reject the proposal of a large aid increase in order to help poor countries to move out of the underdevelopment trap. We consider absorptive capacity, the set of limits to an effective use of aid inflows, under for main aspects:...

In two previous papers we have argued that aid is likely to mitigate the negative effects of external shocks on economic growth (i.e. that aid is more effective in countries which are more vulnerable to external shocks). Recently an important debate has emerged about the possible negative...