How the Aid Industry Works: An Introduction to International Development

by Arjan de Haan

International development is big business. Official global aid flows from North to South are over $100 billion annually. China and India, former aid recipients, are rapidly entering the field as aid providers themselves, and international charity is being redefined with the resources of private donors like the Gates Foundation, for example, outstripping the annual budget of long-time donors like the UK, Canada or the World Health Organization.

Lacking in the literature on international development is an introductory text that provides an overview of the practices of the “business” of development. How the Aid Industry Works provides a basic description of what aid practices are and how they evolved. The arguments of both proponents and opponents of aid are presented and analyzed, along with real-life examples of projects and programs in context. Ideal for undergraduate and graduate students encountering the subject of development for the first time, the book also serves as an overview for development practitioners who want a handy reference covering the universe they inhabit.

Genres: Nonfiction, Politics, International Development

256 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2009

About the author

Arjan de Haan is a development expert who focuses on public policy and poverty in Asia. He leads the IDRC program Supporting Inclusive Growth, managing a team of 10 specialists in Ottawa and regional offices.

Before joining IDRC, de Haan worked at the Institute of Social Studies (Erasmus University Rotterdam) in The Hague, where he was convenor of the master’s program in social policy and led the development of a database called Indices of Social Development. Before that, he worked for 10 years with the UK Department for International Development in London, India, and China. He also managed the Poverty Research Unit at the University of Sussex (UK). He has published widely and is co-editor of the Canadian Journal of Development Studies.

De Haan holds a PhD in social history from Erasmus University Rotterdam (Netherlands).

Reviews

[Anssi Grekula]

The book was very informative but it was written as a huge bunch of nested lists, like "first, blah blah blah, second, blah blah blah..." which, although organized and easy to follow, was pretty boring. About the content, the book left European Union almost completely aside even though it is one of the biggest donors in development aid industry. Other players are thoroughly and well described and analyzed.

[Jennifer Kern]

International development means big business with billions of dollars dished out annually to countries all over the globe. I don't think many people know where our money actually goes and what the government does to keep track of our funds.

How the Aid Industry Works provides a basic description of what aid practices are, how they evolve, and what aid proponents/opponents think of certain programs and projects.

I completely recommend this title to those in economic/finance/business and to international development enhusiasts.