EFFECTIVE DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE DATA BASE The files included in this database contain the conventional and the adjusted measures of official development assistance to a set of 133 countries between 1975 and 1995. The principal component of the data set is Effective Development Assistance (EDA), an aggregate measure of aid flows combining total grants and the grant equivalents of all official loans. EDA is computed on a loan-by-loan basis to reflect the financial cost the creditor incurs in making loans on concessional terms. Data on this as well as all other variables contained in these files are formally presented in Charles C. Chang, Eduardo Fernandez-Arias and Luis Serven, "Measuring Aid Flows, A New Approach," World Bank, 1998. Below is a brief description of the data. VARIABLE DEFINITIONS Grant Equivalent (GQ): The grant equivalent of a loan is defined as the difference between the present values of the loan's disbursements and stream of expected debt service payments, or the resources that borrowers receive in excess of their interest and repayment obligations. Conceptually, for each loan, this amount is equal to the net loss to the lender -- equivalent to a grant. The computation of grant equivalents involves discounting two cash flow streams for each loan (disbursements and interest/amortization payments) using discount rates that reflect both the term structure of each loan and the market conditions specific to the loan's currency of issue at the time of valuation. Grant Element (GE): The grant equivalent, when expressed as a percentage of the discounted face value of the loan, is the grant element (GE) of the loan. By showing the fraction of a loan that is essentially cost-free, the grant element provides a comparable measure of loan concessionality across time, country and currency of issue. Effective Development Assistance (EDA): EDA is defined as the sum of grant equivalents and grants, excluding technical assistance. This adjusted measure uses the same conventional grant data but aggregates grant equivalents of loans (GQ) rather than the full face value of all loans deemed concessional. The grant equivalents used to construct EDA are computed using the methodology presented in "Measuring Aid Flows, A New Approach." Disbursements: The disbursement figures presented here are total disbursements on EDA loans made to each recipient country. EDA loans are all official loans excluding bilateral loans made for military and defense purposes. Technical Assistance: In the construction of EDA, Technical Assistance (TA) is excluded from grants. The variable, however, is separately available in the file as a memo item to provide the user with the option of constructing a broader definition of aid. Debt Forgiveness (DEBTF): Debt Forgiveness figures included in these files are provided by the OECD. In the construction of EDA, debt forgiveness is excluded from grants to avoid double-counting of actual lending flows. FILE FORMAT Three files are included in this data set: EDA.xls, BEDA.xls and MEDA.xls. BEDA.xls aggregates annual flows from all bilateral donors. MEDA.xls aggregates annual flows from all multilateral donors. EDA.xls shows the total from all official sources, which is equal to the sum of BEDA and MEDA for the same variables. The data set is organized by recipient country and year. File formats are as follows. EDA.xls EDA Effective Development Assistance ( = EDA GQ + Grants - TA - B Debtf) EDA Disb Total disbursements on EDA loans EDA GQ Grant equivalents used to construct EDA Grants Grants used to construct EDA Avg EDA GE Average GE on all EDA loans with disbursements during each given year B Debtf Bilateral Debt forgiveness used to adjust bilateral grants Memo TA Memo item, total technical assistance BEDA.xls BEDA Bilateral EDA ( = BEDA GQ + B Grants - BTA - B Debtf) BEDA Disb Total disbursements on bilateral EDA loans BEDA GQ Bilateral grant equivalents used to construct BEDA B Grants Bilateral grants used to construct BEDA Avg BEDA GE Average GE on all BEDA loans with disbursements during each given year B Debtf Bilateral Debt forgiveness used to adjust bilateral grants Memo BTA Memo item, bilateral technical assistance MEDA.xls MEDA Multilateral Effective Development Assistance ( = MEDA + M Grants - MTA) MEDA Disb Total disbursements on Multilateral EDA loans MEDA GQ Multilateral grant equivalents used to construct MEDA M Grants Multilateral grants used to construct MEDA Avg MEDA GE Average GE on all MEDA loans with disbursements during each given year Memo MTA Memo item, multilateral technical assistance