Japan is now the biggest donor of Official Development Assistance (ODA) throughout the world. This study takes a new approach to this subject by focusing on the procedures, methodologies and business mechanisms at the implementation level that influence the process of policy-making in Tokyo. It is also the first study to explore the process of receiving aid, arguing that many of the recipient countries exert considerable influence over the distribution of Japanese foreign aid.

Once the world's largest ODA provider, contemporary Japan seems much less visible in international development. However, this book demonstrates that Japan, with its own aid philosophy, experiences, and models of aid, has ample lessons to offer to the international community as the latter seeks new paradigms of development cooperation.

When this volume was published in 1993 it was the first comprehensive analysis of the major policy issues confronting Japan’s massive foreign aid programme. It deals with the philosophy behind Japan’s aid, Japanese reactions to the severe criticisms of its programmes and the beginnings of meaningful administrative reform of the complex aid system. Alan Rix goes on to examine the widespread innovation in programmes and policies to make Japan’s aid more responsive and the impact of the Asian bias in Japan’s aid.

Assesses the transformation of Japan's foreign aid policies within the context of the nation's changing economic and political relations throughout Asia and beyond.

Japans System of Official Development Assistance

Filling a gap in the existing literature, this book analyzes the distinctive features of Japan’s development aid, especially technical co-operation, in comparison with other donors’ aid. Incorporating a wealth of research, it discusses whether Japan is behind other leading donor countries in rethinking its aid policy and whether it lacks transparency, sensitivity to recipient needs, and a coherent and coordinated policy that targets poverty. The volume assesses the nature and effectiveness of the administration of Japan’s aid, and explores the degree of involvement of private sector and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Including contributions from experts with direct experience with Japanese ODA, the book provides a wide range of recipient and donor viewpoints and presents important policy recommendations.

Japan's emergence as a world economic power is second only to the end of the Cold War in its significance for the world's political economy. While volumes have been written profiling Japan's behavior in trade and finance, less has been written about a third facet of its economic personality - its foreign aid program. In this important new book, Margee M. Ensign shows that contrary to stated claims, Japanese aid is inextricably linked to Japanese business interests. In Doing Good or Doing Well?, Ensign explores one of the most controversial issues pervading the volatile U.S.-Japan relationship: the practice of aid "tying". In a masterful piece of research, Ensign shows how Japanese foreign aid to the developing world is often tied to purchases from Japan, and contradicts official Japanese statistics stating that American firms have won an increasing share of Japan's loan-financed aid projects. She reveals that the loan component of Japanese aid is effectively tied to purchases from Japan, making this portion of the aid program essentially one of private foreign assistance. Ensign also discloses how economic aid from Japan which is used to build infrastructure can lay the groundwork for lucrative business ventures by Japanese firms. Overall, Tokyo's policy enables Japanese capital to establish a foothold in the developing world, with potentially devastating consequences for countries battling poverty and environmental ruin. Doing Good or Doing Well? has wide-ranging implications for U.S.-Japanese relations, for Third World development, and for U.S. foreign aid policy. Some in the West will conclude that the U.S. should restructure its aid policies to mimic the Japanese model. One dominantargument in Congress is that U.S. aid should be used to support U.S. exports. Ensign convincingly shows that it is in the best interest of the U.S. and the Third World that foreign assistance be used to support broad-based economic growth and development. Finally, her findings - that Japan's aid focus is a narrow one - suggest that Japan does not yet have the kind of global vision that helped to reshape the world after World War II. For the U.S., these results are a reminder that economic nationalism must be countered by a global blueprint if the international economic system is to remain open and cooperative.