The impacts of marketization on international aid: Transforming relationships among USAID vendors

Abstract

The article outlines changing US government strategies in response to growing marketization of international aid and development. As private sector US government vendors, the active, purposive role of for-profit firms in aid distribution is difficult to appreciate from only an exploration of funding awards. The literature identifies multiple influences on vendor relationships between NGOs and for-profit firms including new government policies and donor priorities as well as the arrival of new stakeholders. Our review of US official development assistance funding distribution juxtaposes funding awards to NGOs and for-profit firms between 2011 and 2020, uncovering new patterns that alter our previous understanding of government aid as a public good. The article concludes that marketization of international aid and development reflected in US policy not only alters the composition of stakeholder engagement but has fundamentally transformed aid delivery models, introducing opportunities for flexibility and potential interchangeability among vendors.