Impact Case Study: Discrepancies in aid and development workers' salaries
Abstract
According to the 2005 Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness, local workers and expatriate workers should be on similar pay scales. However, expatriate aid workers worldwide are paid more than local colleagues. Project ADDUP (Are Development Discrepancies Undermining Performance) tested the impact of this discrepancy on local workers' motivation in the health, education and business sectors of six countries: Malawi, Uganda, India, China, the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea.
The project, which is led by Massey University and Trinity College Dublin, found that dual salaries perpetuate dominance and injustice, and undermine pride. They lead to poverty not capacity-building in low-income countries.
Citation
Economic and Social Research Council, Swindon, UK, 3 pp.
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