Foreign Aid, Wage Inequality, and Welfare for a Small Open Economy with Tourism

B-Tier
Journal: Review of International Economics
Year: 2010
Volume: 18
Issue: 3
Pages: 454-464

Authors (3)

Chi‐Chur Chao (not in RePEc) Jean‐Pierre Laffargue (not in RePEc) Pasquale M. Sgro (Deakin University)

Score contribution per author:

0.670 = (α=2.01 / 3 authors) × 1.0x B-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

While the welfare effect of foreign aid has been extensively analyzed, the impact on the distribution of income has received less attention. At the same time, there has been recent work on tourism where it is complementary to aid in improving welfare. By combining these two strands, this paper concentrates on wage inequality in developing countries. We find that an increase in aid in the form of tied aid can lower the relative price of nontraded goods. The rent extracted from tourists declines, reducing welfare of domestic residents. In addition, the fall in the nontradable price can widen the wage inequality between skilled and unskilled workers. Thus, increased foreign aid may have detrimental effects on national welfare and the distribution of income. Rising wage inequality is confirmed by numerical simulations.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:bla:reviec:v:18:y:2010:i:3:p:454-464
Journal Field
International
Author Count
3
Added to Database
2026-01-25