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This paper examines the effect of ethnic diversity on the efficiency of public spending in a set of developing countries. For this purpose, we use Data Envelopment Analysis to assess the efficiency of public spending in the sectors of health, education and infrastructure in 77 developing countries over the period 1996-2012. Further, we investigate the effect of ethnic diversity on the cross country variation in efficiency. Two main findings emerge. First, barely 12% of the sample of countries under study makes an efficient use of public expenditure. Second, no matters the level of aggregation, ethnic polarization is positively associated with higher efficiency. In contrast, ethnic fractionalization does have a negative or at the best no effect on efficiency, especially at the finest level of disaggregation.

This paper investigates the effect of terrorism on fiscal policy volatility in developing countries. Using both cross-country and panel data analysis for 66 countries from 1970 to 2012, we find that an increase in the number of terrorist incidents raise the volatility of the discretionary component of fiscal policy. In addition, the analysis shows that fiscal volatility is positively influenced by the volatility of output growth, the consumer price inflation volatility, the degree of fractionalization of both the government and the opposition. The results also show that the volatility is higher is countries of small size and lower in more democratic countries. Our results are robust to reverse causality, endogeneity bias and the presence of various controls. This paper complements and extends the previous literature by providing the evidence that terrorism substantially increases the uncertainty surrounding the conduct of fiscal policy in developing countries.

This paper investigates the effect of terrorism on fiscal policy volatility in developing countries. Using both cross-country and panel data analysis for 66 countries from 1970 to 2012, we find that an increase in the number of terrorist incidents raise the volatility of the discretionary component of fiscal policy. In addition, the analysis shows that fiscal volatility is positively influenced by the volatility of output growth, the consumer price inflation volatility, the degree of fractionalization of both the government and the opposition. The results also show that the volatility is higher is countries of small size and lower in more democratic countries. Our results are robust to reverse causality, endogeneity bias and the presence of various controls. This paper complements and extends the previous literature by providing the evidence that terrorism substantially increases the uncertainty surrounding the conduct of fiscal policy in developing countries.

This paper examines the effect of ethnic diversity on the efficiency of public spending in a set of developing countries. For this purpose, we use Data Envelopment Analysis to assess the efficiency of public spending in the sectors of health, education and infrastructure in 77 developing countries over the period 1996-2012. Further, we investigate the effect of ethnic diversity on the cross country variation in efficiency. Two main findings emerge. First, barely 12% of the sample of countries under study makes an efficient use of public expenditure. Second, no matters the level of aggregation, ethnic polarization is positively associated with higher efficiency. In contrast, ethnic fractionalization does have a negative or at the best no effect on efficiency, especially at the finest level of disaggregation.

AbstractUsing data from the World Value Survey for the period 1981–2007, this paper shows that the level of trust is positively linked to the willingness to contribute to environmental goods in selected African countries. The results are robust to possible errors in measuring trust, to the presence of various controls, and the potential endogeneity bias. These findings complement and extend the existing literature in the sense that they provide evidence on the importance of trust in improving the collective management of natural resources in Africa.

Etudes & documents ; Since 2000, Official Development Assistance has played a crucial role in efforts related to the achievement of MDGs. This is especially the case in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) which is the world's largest recipient of foreign aid. This paper assesses the effectiveness of aid and its efficient use in achieving universal primary education in Sub-Saharan Africa. The impact of aid is assessed for a sample of 35 SSA countries over the decade 2000-2010. The results suggest that higher aid to education significantly increases primary completion rate. This result is robust to the use of various methods of estimation, the inclusion of instrument to account for the endogeneity of aid and the set of control variables included in regressions. In addition, this paper shows that there is strong heterogeneity in the efficient use of aid across countries in SSA.

Since 2000, Official Development Assistance has played a crucial role in efforts related to the achievement of MDGs. This is especially the case in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) which is the world's largest recipient of foreign aid. This paper assesses the effectiveness of aid and its efficient use in achieving universal primary education in Sub-Saharan Africa. The impact of aid is assessed for a sample of 35 SSA countries over the decade 2000-2010. The results suggest that higher aid to education significantly increases primary completion rate. This result is robust to the use of various methods of estimation, the inclusion of instrument to account for the endogeneity of aid and the set of control variables included in regressions. In addition, this paper shows that there is strong heterogeneity in the efficient use of aid across countries in SSA. ; Etudes & documents

Etudes & documents ; Since 2000, Official Development Assistance has played a crucial role in efforts related to the achievement of MDGs. This is especially the case in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) which is the world's largest recipient of foreign aid. This paper assesses the effectiveness of aid and its efficient use in achieving universal primary education in Sub-Saharan Africa. The impact of aid is assessed for a sample of 35 SSA countries over the decade 2000-2010. The results suggest that higher aid to education significantly increases primary completion rate. This result is robust to the use of various methods of estimation, the inclusion of instrument to account for the endogeneity of aid and the set of control variables included in regressions. In addition, this paper shows that there is strong heterogeneity in the efficient use of aid across countries in SSA.

AbstractUsing a sample of 34 sub‐Saharan African countries over the period 1990–2012, this paper reveals that health aid helps to improve health outcomes in sub‐Saharan African countries. More specifically, for each additional unit of health aid, the prevalence of HIV decreases by 8.3% and child mortality decreases by 64% over 4 years. This effect operates mainly through the improvement of female education and the increase in health spending. Furthermore, the results do not support the hypothesis of a significant difference between post‐conflict states and stable states in terms of aid effectiveness. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.