Aid Allocation across the Humanitarian-Development-Peace Nexus: The Role of Fragility as a Donor's Motive

Fragility continues to present major challenges to the international community in achieving sustainable development goals. Aid has been one of the critical sources of finance to deliver humanitarian assistance, development projects and peace operations in fragile contexts. This study analyses if and how donors are motivated by the ‘state’ and ‘degree’ of fragility in their aid allocation across the humanitarian-development-peace nexus. Using the three- dimensional panel data and employing the random-effect Tobit method, the role of fragility as a donor’s motive is econometrically analysed along with other three groups of motives: self-interest, recipient need, and merit. The empirical analysis of aid allocated by 23 Development Assistance Committee (DAC) member states from the year 2009 to 2019 demonstrates that donors are indeed motivated by fragility, but a great degree of heterogeneity is identified among donors and within each of them across the nexus. It also detects a significant difference between how the state of fragility affects aid allocation and how the degree of fragility does so. These findings have important implications for financing across the nexus and the global promise of leaving no one behind.