Foreign Aid and Consumption Smoothing: Evidence from Global Food Aid

26 Pages Posted: 29 Jan 2006

See all articles by Sanjeev Gupta

Sanjeev Gupta

International Monetary Fund (IMF) - Fiscal Affairs Department

Benedict Clements

International Monetary Fund (IMF) - African Department

Erwin R. Tiongson

Georgetown University - Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service (SFS); Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA); University College London - CReAM - Centre for Research and Analysis of Migration; Asian Institute of Management

Date Written: February 2003

Abstract

Global food aid is considered a critical consumption smoothing mechanism in many countries. However, its record of stabilizing consumption has been mixed. This paper examines the cyclical properties of food aid with respect to food availability in recipient countries, with a view to assessing its impact on consumption in some 150 developing countries and transition economies, covering 1970 to 2000. The results show that global food aid has been allocated to countries most in need. Food aid has also been countercyclical within countries with the greatest need. However, for most countries, food aid is not countercyclical. The amount of food aid provided is also insufficient to mitigate contemporaneous shortfalls in consumption. The results are robust to various specifications and filtering techniques and have important implications for macroeconomic and fiscal management.

Keywords: Food aid, foreign aid, counterpart funds, consumption smoothing

JEL Classification: E320, F350, Q180

Suggested Citation

Gupta, Sanjeev and Clements, Benedict and Tiongson, Erwin R., Foreign Aid and Consumption Smoothing: Evidence from Global Food Aid (February 2003). IMF Working Paper No. 03/40, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=879115

Sanjeev Gupta (Contact Author)

International Monetary Fund (IMF) - Fiscal Affairs Department ( email )

700 19th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20431
United States

Benedict Clements

International Monetary Fund (IMF) - African Department ( email )

1700 19th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20431
United States

Erwin R. Tiongson

Georgetown University - Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service (SFS) ( email )

Washington, DC 20057
United States

Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) ( email )

P.O. Box 7240
Bonn, D-53072
Germany

University College London - CReAM - Centre for Research and Analysis of Migration ( email )

Drayton House
30 Gordon Street
London, WC1H 0AX
United Kingdom

Asian Institute of Management ( email )

123 Paseo de Roxas
Makati, 1260
Philippines

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