Development aid and domestic regional inequality: the case of Myanmar

Figures & data

Figure 1. Change in nighttime luminosity between 1992 and 2012.

Notes: For data see text. Graph computed with QGiS (v.3.8.3) Software

Figure 2. Aid Flows (1995–2015) by Regions.

Figure 3. Share of Aid Flows to Regions.

Table A1. Shares for Different Donors.

Donor	Share of regions	Share of rural	Share of regions plus rural	Share of non-Bamar regions
France	0.10	0.01	0.11	0.03
Germany	0.30	0.01	0.31	0.19
Norway	0.07	0.01	0.08	0.05
Sweden	0.08	0.01	0.09	0.08
United Kingdom	0.12	0.00	0.13	0.11
Canada	0.14	0.00	0.14	0.13
United States	0.14	0.00	0.14	0.13
Japan	0.37	0.43	0.80	0.18
South Korea	0.07	0.05	0.12	0.01
Australia	0.12	0.02	0.14	0.09
IDA	0.08	0.00	0.08	0.00
ADB Special Fund	0.04	0.00	0.04	0.00
EU	0.09	0.00	0.09	0.09
UN Peacebuilding Fund	0.43	0.00	0.43	0.43
WHO	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00
FAO	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00
ILO	0.38	0.00	0.38	0.25
UNDP	0.15	0.08	0.23	0.14
UNICEF	0.02	0.00	0.02	0.02
UNHCR	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00
UNAIDS	0.04	0.00	0.04	0.04
UNFPA	0.44	0.00	0.44	0.01
IFAD	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00
Global Fund	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00
Memorandum Item: China	0.33	0.00	0.33	0.17
Total Average	0.14	0.02	0.17	0.09

Table A2. Details About Selected Donors.

		Germany	UK	Japan	South Korea	Total
Most frequent	Aid Type	Project Aid	Project Aid	Project Aid	Technical Expertise	Project Aid
	Number (%)	135 (33%)	196 (52%)	1527 (59%)	566 (47%)	4671 (49%)
Largest Difference/Rural to Central Aid (%)	Aid Type (% to rural)	Aid to NGOs (75%)	Specific Purpose Programs (50%)	Project Aid (100%)	Specific Purpose Programs (80%)	Aid to NGOs (66%)
Biggest	Aid Type	Project Aid Debt Relief	Specific Purpose Programs	Project Aid	Project Aid	Project Aid
	Amount (mill.)	134	195	3117	461	7440
Biggest difference rural to
Most frequent	Sector	Education	Material Emergency Relief	Education Facilities	Primary Education	Multisector Aid
	Number (%)	74 (20%)	53(14%)	114 (4%)	158 (13%)	442 (5%)
Biggest	Sector	Transport Infrastructure	Material Emergency Relief	Electric Power	Road Infrastructure	Electric Power
	Amount (mil.)	20	140	596	135	1102

Notes: The table shows for each of the four selected donors as well as all donors several key indicators. For types of aid, it shows the most frequent category as well as the category with the biggest total amount. The table also shows where the difference between aid to regions and the center (including the capital) is the largest. For the sector it shows the most frequent sector as well as the sector with the largest total amount.

Table

	Date	Position	Location
1	20 May 2019	GIZ Myanmar senior official	Yangon, Myanmar
2	18 June 2018	KOICA senior official	Yangon
3	1 November 2016	Taipei Economic and Cultural Office representative	Yangon
4	17 January 2017	Academic	Seoul, South Korea
5	18 January 2017	ASEAN-Korea Center	Seoul
6	20 January 2017	Asia-focused think tank	Seoul
7	26 June 2018	Businessman working in Myanmar	Seoul
8	6 August 2019	Former senior programme manager of large non-state donor	Online
9	8 March 2013	Yangon University, senior administrator	Yangon
10	15 May 2019	Academic staff, Dagon University	Yangon
11	Several 2013–2019	Mandalay University of Foreign Languages, senior administrator	Mandalay, Myanmar
12	Several 2013–2019	Mandalay University, senior academic staff, Dept of International Relations	Mandalay
13	Several 2013–2019	Mandalay University, senior academic staff, Dept of International Relations	Mandalay
14	12 May 2019	Peace-building NGO	Yangon
15	19 April 2019	Director, NGO focused on education in minority areas	Yangon
16	22 April 2019	Yangon University, senior administrator	Yangon
17	13 May 2019	Yangon University, senior academic staff	Yangon
18	13 May 2019	Yangon University, senior academic staff	Yangon
19	22 April 2019	Mawlamyine University, academic staff	Mawlamyine, Myanmar
20	22 April 2019	Inter-faith NGO	Mawlamyine
21	14 June 2018	Mandalay University, senior administrator	Mandalay
22	14 June 2018	Yadanabon University senior administrator	Mandalay
23	9 February 2020	Mandalay University faculty member	Mandalay
24	10 February 2020	Yadanabon University faculty members	Mandalay

Table A3. The correlates of logged nighttime luminosity for 2012.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	Source
1 Luminosity (average)	1						see text
2 Poverty (incidence)	−0.73***	1					UNDP 2011: 15
3 Morbidity (incidence)	−0.63**	0.33	1				UNDP 2011: 77
4 Access to Sanitation	0.09	−0.15	−0.21	1			UNDP 2011: 66
5 Access to Electricity (in 2005)	0.053*	−0.41	−0.34	0.42	1		UNDP 2011: 67
6 Electrification (ADB)	0.61**	−0.32	−0.43	0.39	0.84***	1	ADB 2014: 145
7 Population Density	0.69***	−0.26	−0.44*	0.25	0.62**	0.77***	Government of Myanmar/UNFPA 2014: 10

Sources: 15 observations; average; UNDP 2011 = United Nations Development Program Integrated Household Living Conditions Survey (2009–2010); ADB 2014 = Asian Development Bank Myanmar. Unlocking the Potential. Country Diagnostic Study; Government of Myanmar/UNFPA 2014: Census Atlas Myanmar. The 2014 Myanmar Population and Housing Census.