Quantifying Aid Allocation: A Critical Review of the DFID Needs‐Effectiveness Index
Author(s) -
Tribe Michael
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
global policy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.602
H-Index - 33
eISSN - 1758-5899
pISSN - 1758-5880
DOI - 10.1111/1758-5899.12362
Subject(s) - index (typography) , poverty , position (finance) , element (criminal law) , international development , aid effectiveness , population , economics , section (typography) , public economics , developing country , political science , economic growth , business , computer science , sociology , finance , demography , world wide web , law , advertising
Abstract This article has three main sections. An introduction describes the main features of the Department for International Development's ( DFID 's) Needs‐Effectiveness Index (N‐ EI ) which was the basis for aid re‐allocation between countries in the review of UK Aid undertaken in 2010–11. The second main section is a critical review of the ‘poverty’ element of the Index, particularly questioning the selection of the higher of the two World Bank poverty lines, and the adjustment used to allow for differing impact of country population sizes. The third main section focuses on the ‘fragility’ element of the N‐ EI , suggesting that the incorporation of this very important element of international ‘need’ into the Index was less than transparent, that it did not reflect important parts of the literature available at the time, and that it understated earlier research sponsored by the DFID . The N‐ EI has been subjected to little critical evaluation in the literature even though it had a central position in the major review of UK aid allocation. The article concludes that further consideration of the attributes of the N‐ EI would be necessary if it were to be used as the basis for policy decision‐making in the future.