States, Markets and Foreign Aid with Dr Simone Dietrich (University of Geneva)

States, Markets and Foreign Aid with Dr Simone Dietrich (University of Geneva)

The IDD Guest Seminar Series is delighted to welcome Dr Simone Dietrich (Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Geneva) to discuss her latest book with Cambridge University Press.

Abstract

States, Markets and Foreign Aid

Why do some donor governments pursue international development through recipient governments, while others bypass such local authorities? Weaving together scholarship in political economy, public administration and historical institutionalism, Simone Dietrich argues that the bureaucratic institutions of donor countries shape donor–recipient interactions differently despite similar international and recipient country conditions. Donor nations employ institutional constraints that authorize, enable and justify particular aid delivery tactics while precluding others. Offering quantitative and qualitative analyses of donor decision-making, the book illuminates how donors with neoliberally organized public sectors bypass recipient governments, while donors with more traditional public-sector-oriented institutions cooperate and engage recipient authorities on aid delivery. The book demonstrates how internal beliefs and practices about states and markets inform how donors see and set their objectives for foreign aid and international development itself. It informs debates about aid effectiveness and donor coordination and carries implications for the study of foreign policy, more broadly.

Speaker:

Simone Dietrich is Associate Professor of political science at the University of Geneva. Her work in international political economy and development has appeared in leading academic journals. She is a member of advisory networks to donor governments and the OECD. Prior to her academic career, she was development practitioner in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The IDD Guest Seminar Series brings scholars and practitioners working on international development to the University of Birmingham to share their latest research and ideas. All seminars are open to staff, students, and the general public. For details of other upcoming seminars please visit IDD's Eventbrite page and follow us on twitter @iddbirmingham. Speakers will present for 45 minutes, followed by 45 minutes for audience Q&A.

Please register if you would like to attend. A Zoom link will be emailed to participants before the event.

This free event is open to all - staff, students, key stakeholders and members of the public.