Essays on the economics of nongovernmental organisations.

Abstract

For more than half a century, cross-country analysis tried to assess if aggregated foreign aid brings
poor countries to development. Today, rigorous evaluation can test how successful the intervention
of an individual NGO is, in particular thanks to randomized controlled trials. Between the analysis of
the individual NGO and aggregated aid, there is no middle ground; the disconnection between
specific projects and cross-country analysis incarnates a modern version of Paul Mosley’s Micro-
Macro paradox (1986). The paradox, stated almost 30 years ago, observes that despite the apparent
success of foreign aid at the project level, aggregate effects where invisible at the country level.
There is a pressing need to understand if the overall impact of the NGO sector is equal to the sum of
its parts. This raises the following questions: how do NGOs influence those that do not directly
benefit from their projects? How do NGOs interact with each other, with governments, or with other
components of the Civil Society? How do NGOs change market equilibria, influence vote, or impact
productivity?

Answering these questions is crucial to assess the efficiency of the new landscape of development
assistance. This doctoral thesis hopes to contribute to the knowledge on NGOs by theorizing on their
impact at the level of a country, or a large region of a country, with a focus on institutions.
Answering these questions is crucial to assess the efficiency of the new landscape of development
assistance. This doctoral thesis hopes to contribute to the knowledge on NGOs by theorizing on their
impact at the level of a country, or a large region of a country. The thesis is composed of three chapters: two of them are theoretical models concerned with the political economy of developing countries hosting foreign NGOs; the third chapter combines a theoretical model with empirical evidence to assess the effect of specific policies designed by governments, which it outsources to NGOs for their implementation.

Date of Award	26 Aug 2015
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	University of Namur
Supervisor	Jean-Philippe PLATTEAU (Supervisor), Gani Aldashev (Supervisor), Mathias HUNGERBUHLER (President), Jean-Marie BALAND (Jury), Emmanuelle Auriol (Jury) & Patrick Legros (Jury)