Book•
The White Man's Burden: Why the West's Efforts to Aid the Rest Have Done So Much Ill and So Little Good
01 Jan 2006-
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present a survey of the history of the big push and its connections to the present day: 1. Planners Versus Searchers WHY PLANNERS CANNOT BRING PROSPERITY 2. The Legend of the Big Push 3. You Can't Plan a Market 4. Planers and Gangsters ACTING OUT THE BURDEN 5. The Rich Have Markets, the Poor Have Bureaucrats 6. Bailing Out the Poor 7. The Healers: Triumph and Tragedy The White Man's ARMY 8. Invading the Poor
Abstract: 1. Planners Versus Searchers WHY PLANNERS CANNOT BRING PROSPERITY 2. The Legend of the Big Push 3. You Can't Plan a Market 4. Planners and Gangsters ACTING OUT THE BURDEN 5. The Rich Have Markets, the Poor Have Bureaucrats 6. Bailing Out the Poor 7. The Healers: Triumph and Tragedy THE WHITE MAN'S ARMY 8. From Colonialism to Postmodern Imperialism 9. Invading the Poor THE FUTURE 10. Homegrown Development 11. The Future of Western Assistance
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TL;DR: The authors argue that many of these applications are unlikely to recover quantities that are useful for policy or understanding: two key issues are the misunderstanding of exogeneity and the handling of heterogeneity, and illustrate using prominent experiments in development and elsewhere.
Abstract: There is currently much debate about the effectiveness of foreign aid and about what kind of projects can engender economic development. There is skepticism about the ability of econometric analysis to resolve these issues or of development agencies to learn from their own experience. In response, there is increasing use in development economics of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) to accumulate credible knowledge of what works, without overreliance on questionable theory or statistical methods. When RCTs are not possible, the proponents of these methods advocate quasirandomization through instrumental variable (IV) techniques or natural experiments. I argue that many of these applications are unlikely to recover quantities that are useful for policy or understanding: two key issues are the misunderstanding of exogeneity and the handling of heterogeneity. I illustrate from the literature on aid and growth. Actual randomization faces similar problems as does quasi-randomization, notwithstanding rhetoric to the contrary. I argue that experiments have no special ability to produce more credible knowledge than other methods, and that actual experiments are frequently subject to practical problems that undermine any claims to statistical or epistemic superiority. I illustrate using prominent experiments in development and elsewhere. As with IV methods, RCT-based evaluation of projects, without guidance from an understanding of underlying mechanisms, is unlikely to lead to scientific progress in the understanding of economic development. I welcome recent trends in development experimentation away from the evaluation of projects and toward the evaluation of theoretical mechanisms. (JEL C21, F35, O19)
1,102 citations
Cites background from "The White Man's Burden: Why the Wes..."
...There is skepticism about the ability of econometric analysis to resolve these issues or of development agencies to learn from their own experience....
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TL;DR: The authors examines in microcosm such institutional voids and illustrates the activities of an entrepreneurial actor in rural Bangladesh aimed at addressing them, and depicts the crafting of new institutional arrangements as an ongoing process of bricolage and unveil its political nature as well as its potentially negative consequences.
1,033 citations
TL;DR: In this article, sustainable entrepreneurship is defined as "the preservation of nature, life support, and sustainability" in the context of sustainable development and entrepreneurship literatures, and defined as follows:
Abstract: Informed by the sustainable development and entrepreneurship literatures we offer the following definition: Sustainable entrepreneurship is focused on the preservation of nature, life support, and ...
780 citations
Cites background from "The White Man's Burden: Why the Wes..."
...Last but not least, there are numerous examples of where entrepreneurial action creates economic gains for investors, entrepreneurs, and economies (e.g., Easterly, 2006)....
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...Weak social norms, low interpersonal trust, corruption, and violence are more common in poor nations and regions with lower levels of human well-being (Narayan & Petesch, 2002) and represent obstacles for societal development (Easterly, 2006)....
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...Changing institutions can also enhance a society’s human and social capital, for example through delivering education in third-world countries (see Easterly, 2006) and providing a mechanism that links third-world nations and large companies to deliver medicine to the poor (Seelos & Mair, 2005)....
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Posted Content•
TL;DR: In this article, the authors estimate the importance of terrain ruggedness and its interaction with historical events on economic outcomes and find that both effects are significant statistically and that for Africa the indirect positive effect is at least as large as the direct negative effect.
Abstract: There is controversy about whether geography matters mainly because of its contemporaneous impact on economic outcomes or because of its interaction with historical events Looking at terrain ruggedness, we are able to estimate the importance of these two channels Because rugged terrain hinders trade and most productive activities, it has a negative direct effect on income However, in Africa rugged terrain afforded protection to those being raided during the slave trades Since the slave trades retarded subsequent economic development, in Africa ruggedness has also had a historical indirect positive effect on income Studying all countries worldwide, we find that both effects are significant statistically and that for Africa the indirect positive effect is at least as large as the direct negative effect Looking within Africa, we also provide evidence that the indirect effect operates through the slave trades
732 citations
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TL;DR: This paper found that if the foreign aid over Gross Domestic Product (GDP) that a country receives over a period of five years reaches the 75th percentile in the sample, then a 10-point index of democracy is reduced between 0.5 and almost one point, a large effect.
Abstract: Foreign aid provides a windfall of resources to recipient countries and may result in the same rent seeking behavior as documented in the 'curse of natural resources' literature. In this paper the author discusses this effect and documents its magnitude. Using panel data for 108 recipient countries in the period 1960 to 1999, the author found that foreign aid has a negative impact on institutions. In particular, if the foreign aid over Gross Domestic Product (GDP) that a country receives over a period of five years reaches the 75th percentile in the sample, then a 10-point index of democracy is reduced between 0.5 and almost one point, a large effect. For comparison, we also measure the effect of oil rents on political institutions. The author found that aid is a bigger curse than oil.
703 citations