https://hdl.handle.net/10419/117 2026-10-08T20:07:50Z 2026-10-08T20:07:50Z Martínez-Zarzoso, Inmaculada Lessing, Jonathan https://hdl.handle.net/10419/342346 2026-07-22T15:27:53Z 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: More than meets the port: Donor export effects of foreign aid revisited Authors: Martínez-Zarzoso, Inmaculada; Lessing, Jonathan Abstract: Despite growing fiscal pressures and public scrutiny of aid spending, the domestic returns from official development assistance (ODA) remain understudied, particularly for services trade. This paper examines how bilateral ODA from five different European donors - Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden - affects their exports to recipient countries over the period 2005-2024. Using a gravity model specification estimated with panel dynamic feasible generalised least squares, we mostly find robust positive aid-trade elasticities that hold across goods and services sectors. ODA variables retain explanatory power after controlling for Aid-for-Trade shares, suggesting that indirect channels, such as economic development and goodwill, persist next to direct procurement. These findings provide evidence for the benefits of aid for donor countries. When recipient countries are analysed separately by political importance or income level, evidence suggests that the aid-trade-link is mainly driven by larger emerging economies as the effect of aid for poorer countries yields comparable point estimates yet translates into smaller economic returns. Further analysis also shows heterogeneity by donor in terms of domestic effects. The underlying causes for the differences remain to be explored.

2026-01-01T00:00:00Z Martínez-Zarzoso, Inmaculada Nowak-Lehmann D., Felicitas https://hdl.handle.net/10419/343184 2026-08-27T15:19:43Z 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Swiss ODA, trade and GDP: A quantitative analysis Authors: Martínez-Zarzoso, Inmaculada; Nowak-Lehmann D., Felicitas Abstract: This paper presents the macroeconomic benefits of Swiss official development aid (ODA) in terms of exports for the Swiss economy. By using data on Swiss exports and ODA over the period from 1995 to 2024 a gravity model of trade is estimated with panel data techniques. We apply the model to Switzerland's total exports of goods and services and to sectoral exports at 2-digit level, using an input-output classification. The sectoral estimates together with inputoutput multipliers are used to compute the additional exports linked to ODA, the number of jobs secured through these additional exports, the value added generated and the additional gross domestic income that is generated by giving aid. The results show that ODA secures domestic jobs in both the goods and services sectors and that the effect on gross domestic income is economically important.

2026-01-01T00:00:00Z Barros, Laura Xu, Yuanwei https://hdl.handle.net/10419/342345 2026-07-22T15:27:53Z 2025-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Natural disasters and intimate partner violence Authors: Barros, Laura; Xu, Yuanwei Abstract: This paper investigates whether women suffer increased levels of intimate partner violence (IPV) following earthquakes in Peru. We focus specifically on individual, societal, and institutional factors that may contribute to men's violent behavior and women's vulnerability to violence. By combining individual-level data on IPV with spatial data on earthquakes that occurred in Peru between 2000 and 2009, we document that exposure to very strong earthquakes increases the incidence of IPV by over ten percentage points, roughly a 30 percent increase. In addition, we document substantial heterogeneous effects for urban and rural areas, with the former registering a rise in IPV and the latter experiencing substantial decreases. This discrepancy is partially explained by differences in intra-household dynamics, where couples in rural areas are more likely to cooperate than those in urban areas. Finally, we document an important mitigating role of protective institutions in urban areas following earthquakes. More specifically, we find that having a women justice center (WJC) in urban districts completely offsets the earthquake effect.

2025-01-01T00:00:00Z Herrera Prada, Luis Omar https://hdl.handle.net/10419/284360 2024-03-06T02:16:50Z 2024-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Sweet child o'mine: The impact of mining on educational and labor market outputs in Colombia Authors: Herrera Prada, Luis Omar Abstract: This paper examines the effects of mineral extraction on human capital formation in Colombia, a country rich in natural resources but struggling with low college attendance, high youth unemployment, and high informality in the labor market. Leveraging the allocation of natural resources as a quasi-experimental setting, we link administrative data for 5.5 million secondary school graduates from 2002 to 2014 with information on legal mines in 2014 based on the distances from their respective schools. Employing Instrumental Variables and a Differences-in-Differences approach, we identify treated individuals as graduates from secondary schools located closest to operational mines at the time of their graduation. The findings indicate that active mines positively influence school cohort sizes, student academic performance, and enrollment in higher education. However, they also negatively impact entry into the formal labor market, particularly for roles associated with extractive industries. Substantial heterogeneity exists in the outcomes associated with the various extracted products, leading to the identification of distinct categories: "good mines" and "bad mines."

2024-01-01T00:00:00Z