Aid—One Word, Many Theories: An Introduction to The Study of Foreign Aid

Since the end of World War Two, foreign aid has been a mainstay of foreign policy. The quantity, direction, and policy objectives of aid shifted several times throughout this time. Despite making up a relatively low proportion of most countries’ budgets, foreign aid has been widely researched and debated. It is the goal of this paper to trace the major theoretical arguments around aid, the historical trends in aid, and the quantitive analysis found in the aid effectiveness literature. In this way, this paper aims to serve as a non-comprehensive introduction to the study of foreign aid.