Nicolas Van de Sijpe
Biography
I've been a DPhil student in Economics at Oxford University since September 2005 (current status: PRS). I hold a Belgian 'Licentiaat' degree in Economics from the University of Ghent (2000-2004) and an MSc in Economics and Econometrics from the University of Nottingham (2004-2005).
My thesis studies the nexus between foreign aid, fiscal policy, and economic growth in developing countries. I start by reassessing the empirical evidence on aid fungibility. Preliminary results indicate foreign aid is much less fungible than previously thought. I further intend to examine the effects of fiscal policy on long-run growth. I am particularly interested in testing whether taxes raise the effectiveness of public spending, by invoking scrutiny, and whether this holds in general or only for specific groups of countries (e.g. democracies).
Publications
Measuring and explaining government efficiency in developing countries (with Glenn Rayp), 2007, Journal of Development Studies, 43(2), pp. 360-381, http://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/jdevst/v43y2007i2p360-381.html
Work in Progress
Is aid fungible? Evidence from the education and health sectors