ABSTRACT
In the 1950s, when the profession of development economics was in its infancy, it was widely believed that chronically poor countries could be set on the path of self-sustaining growth only by means of an initial 'big push', with substantial technical and financial support from abroad. Today's practitioners have greater confidence in the efficacy of small stimuli; for them, 'haste makes waste'. However, most of them would accord to foreign aid an important facilitating role in the growth process. They also emphasize its role in achieving more equitable intra-national and international distributions of income. This being so, it is remarkable that nowhere in the vast literature on the economics of development can one find a systematic theoretical examination of questions relating to the incidence of aid or to the optimal level and timing of aid.
