An SKKU research team led by Professor Travers B. Child of the SKK Graduate School of Business (SKK GSB) has become the first in the world to use micro-level data to demonstrate that aid fragmentation—the phenomenon in which numerous international aid agencies operate simultaneously in a single region—can deepen administrative corruption in developing countries. The study was conducted jointly with Professor Austin L. Wright of the University of Chicago and Professor Yun Xiao of the University of Gothenburg.
Aid fragmentation refers to a situation in which numerous aid agencies and organizations enter a single developing-country region at the same time, each carrying out its own projects. While the international community has long been concerned that such overlap would undermine the effectiveness of aid, no previous study had provided concrete statistical evidence of how the phenomenon is linked to corruption at the local level.
Child's research team conducted a rigorous analysis by combining data on more than 30,000 aid projects carried out across 330 districts in Afghanistan with large-scale household survey data collected by NATO (the North Atlantic Treaty Organization). The analysis found that when a single aid agency provided concentrated support, local corruption decreased significantly. However, when too many aid agencies operated in the same region, lapses in mutual oversight and the diffusion of accountability allowed aid to become a channel for corruption instead.
Notably, the research team found that the effects of aid vary entirely depending on the "volume of aid" and the "type of project." When the scale of aid was moderate, multiple agencies operating together tended to play a positive role by sharing innovative ideas. By contrast, when aid funding poured in at overwhelming levels, the negative effects of fragmentation were magnified, driving a sharp rise in corruption.
The team also demonstrated that this corruption occurs far more often in visible "physical infrastructure projects"—such as road and bridge construction and supply delivery—than in nonphysical services such as education or welfare.
The findings were formally published in the May 2026 issue of Review of Economics and Statistics.
Publication details
Travers B. Child et al, Aid Fragmentation and Corruption, Review of Economics and Statistics (2026). DOI: 10.1162/rest_a_01458
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Citation: How international aid fragmentation affects corruption in developing countries (2026, July 27) retrieved 28 July 2026 from https://phys.org/news/2026-07-international-aid-fragmentation-affects-corruption.html
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