How Is Foreign Aid Spent? Evidence from a Natural Experiment
利用石油价格波动作为自然实验，研究富裕OPEC国家对贫穷穆斯林盟国的援助如何影响受援国的总需求、国民账户和国际收支，发现援助主要用于消费进口非资本品，替代国内储蓄，并导致资本外逃。
We use oil price fluctuations to test the impact of transfers from wealthy OPEC nations to their poorer Muslim allies. The instrument identifies plausibly exogenous variation in foreign aid. We investigate how aid is spent by tracking its short-run effect on aggregate demand, national accounts, and balance of payments. Aid affects most components of GDP though it has no statistically identifiable impact on prices or economic growth. Much aid is consumed, primarily in the form of imported noncapital goods. Aid substitutes for domestic savings, has no effect on the financial account, and leads to unaccounted capital flight.