Can money buy health? : foreign aid, changes in aid, and the impact of human health in sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT REQUEST OF AUTHOR.] African countries are known to be the largest aid recipients in the world. Many countries worldwide have provided assistance to Africa through the mechanism of international aid. While most theoretical work focuses on the impact of foreign aid on economic development, this paper seeks to identify if foreign aid has an impact on the human health. By using existing data from OECD on foreign aid, this paper empirically tests the impact of foreign aid on human health in sub-Saharan countries. This paper presents two sections of analyses on the impact of foreign aid on human health development in Africa. It finds that foreign aid is ineffective in promoting the health status of the population. However, it suggests that sharp negative changes in aid increases the likelihood of infant mortality in recipient countries. It further suggests that policymakers should take into account the effects of the shortfalls of aid before making considerations of decreasing or cutting aid flows.