Journal of International Development 

About: Journal of International Development is an academic journal published by Wiley. The journal publishes majorly in the area(s): Poverty & International development. It has an ISSN identifier of 0954-1748. Over the lifetime, 2426 publications have been published receiving 71553 citations.

Aid effectiveness disputed

Abstract: There is a widespread perception among academic researchers and aid practitioners alike that empirical cross-country analysis fails to find any significant link between aid flows and growth, and that aid is successful only when associated with good policies in the recipient countries. These positions do not stand up to careful scrutiny of existing studies. In this paper, we offer a re-examination of the literature on the aid-savings, aid-investment, and aid growth relationships, and a comparative appraisal of more recent research contributions. Using an analytic framework for evaluating the empirical work, a coherent and positive picture of the aid-growth link emerges. Aid works, even in countries hampered by an unfavorable policy environment.

Paradoxes of Participation: Questioning Participatory Approaches to Development

Abstract: This article suggests that the concepts underlying participatory approaches to development should be subject to greater critical analysis. Drawing on research on water resource management in sub-Saharan Africa, and on social theory concerning the recursive relationship between agency and structure, it illustrates the need for a more complex understanding of issues of eAciency and empowerment in participatory appro- aches. Particularly, two key concepts are examined: ideas about the nature and role of institutions; and models of individual action. The article concludes by identifying the questions such an analysis raises about the relationships between community, social capital and the state. Copyright # 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. 1 PARTICIPATION IN DEVELOPMENT DISCOURSE Heroic claims are made for participatory approaches to development, these being justified in the terms of ensuring greater eAciency and eAectiveness of investment and of contributing to processes of democratization and empowerment. The conundrum of ensuring the sustainability of development interventions is assumed to be solvable by the proper involvement of beneficiaries in the supply and management of resources, services and facilities. However, despite significant claims to the contrary there is little evidence of the long-term eAectiveness of participation in materially improving the conditions of the most vulnerable people or as a strategy for social change. Whilst the evidence for eAciency receives some support on a small scale, the evidence regarding empower- ment and sustainability is more partial, tenuous and reliant on assertions of the rightness of the approach and process rather than convincing proof of outcomes. Participation has therefore become an act of faith in development; something we believe in and rarely question. This act of faith is based on three main tenets; that

Financial Inclusion and Development

Abstract: An important question raised in the literature is whether development leads to an all-inclusive financial system. This paper attempts to examine the relationship between financial inclusion and development by empirically identifying country specific factors that are associated with the level of financial inclusion. It finds that levels of human development and financial inclusion in a country move closely with each other. Among socio-economic and infrastructure related factors, income, inequality, literacy, urbanisation and physical infrastructure for connectivity and information are important. Health of the banking sector does not seem to have an unambiguous effect on financial inclusion whereas ownership pattern does seem to matter. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

‘Doing development’: the gap year, volunteer‐tourists and a popular practice of development

Abstract: Over the last ten years the gap year has become a popular and publicly recognized phenomenon. One of the most visible forms of this phenomenon has been the emergence of ‘third world’ volunteer-tourism programmes, which seek to combine the hedonism of tourism with the altruism of development work. Such programmes make the practice of international development doable, knowable and accessible to young travellers. This paper seeks to critique the construction of this public face of development, while also asking, from a pedagogical perspective, what travelling participants learn about ‘the others’ they encounter on, and through, such programmes. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

How does economic empowerment affect women's risk of intimate partner violence in low and middle income countries? A systematic review of published evidence

Abstract: Objectives To identify whether individual and household economic empowerment is associated with lower intimate partner violence in low and middle income country settings. Methods Systematic PubMed and internet searches. Results Published data from 41 sites were reviewed. Household assets and women's higher education were generally protective. Evidence about women's involvement in income generation and experience of past year violence was mixed, with five finding a protective association and six documenting a risk association. Conclusion At an individual and household level, economic development and poverty reduction may have protective impacts on IPV. Context specific factors influence whether financial autonomy is protective or associated with increased risk. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. This article was published online on 6 October 2008. Errors were subsequently identified. This notice is included in the online and print versions to indicate that both have been corrected [17 April 2009].