On the Channel and Type of Aid: The Case of International Disaster Assistance

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to determine the drivers of a donor’s decision on the composition of aid. We apply a dataset on international post-disaster assistance between 2000 and 2007 that includes information on the channel (bilateral vs. multilateral) and type (cash vs. in-kind) of each aid flow. Our results suggest that the choice of the channel and type of disaster assistance is mainly determined by strategic interests and transaction costs. Moreover, we find differences in the allocation behavior of OECD and non-OECD countries.Foreign aid, natural disasters, bilateral vs. multilateral, type of aid