Collective action in global governance : the case of the OECD development assistance committee

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Abstract

This thesis examines the achievements and limitation of collective action in the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). With particular focus on two specific issues of ‘aid untying’ and ‘aid effectiveness’ between late 1990s and early 2010s, and two member countries namely the UK and Japan, the thesis first assesses the indicators (existence, forms and level) of collective action. It then explores the conditions (factors that account for the indicators) for collective action in the DAC. As literature on the OECD and the DAC is scarce, this thesis fills knowledge gaps by providing a detailed analysis of the DAC and offering insights into stronger global governance through the lens of collective action.

Using primary evidence drawing on extensive interviews as well as OECD archival documents, the thesis advances four main findings. First, the DAC has achieved collective action only to some extent – it has successfully (if sometimes slowly) reached agreements, but implementation processes reveal more shortcomings. Second, successful agreement has resulted largely from leadership of the UK in the DAC together with work by the DAC Secretariat to build trust relationships as well as to nurture feelings of fairness among the members. The DAC’s limited membership and closed, homogenous nature encouraged this atmosphere. Third, DAC members’ motivations and incentives for collective action can be identified both at individual and institutional (government) levels, ranging between rationality and social/global norms, that are often intertwined and complex, making collective action challenging to understand. Fourth, the DAC is now in transition due to the rising influence of emerging countries and the growth of an additional locus of collective action at recipient country level. All this presents increasing challenges if the DAC is to maintain a reputation for collective action in the future.

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