Relatore:
Silvia Marchesi
- Università di Milano-Bicocca
mercoledì 14 aprile 2021
alle ore
12.00
Zoom webinar https://univr.zoom.us/j/83569606047
(joint with Tania Masi and Saumik Paul)
This paper evaluates the effect of development project aid from the World Bank and China on firms’ sales growth using a large dataset of 110864 firms, mapped into six broad industrial clusters, spanning 121 countries between 2001 and 2016. While we find, on average, no significant effect of World Bank projects, Chinese ODA projects increase the growth of firm sales. The outcomes at a disaggregated level, however, refine our understanding of aid-growth relationships. Compared to sector-specific, region-specific aid from both sources positively affect firm performance. Moreover, we find evidence that both World Bank and Chinese projects can release the financial and infrastructure constraints of firms in recipient countries. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study (1) to compare the effectiveness of the World Bank and Chinese aid on firm sales, and (2) to distinguish between project-specific and region-specific aid and evaluate the contribution of both the World Bank and Chinese ODA projects through these channels.
