Ownership and partnership : does the new rhetoric solve the incentive problems in aid?

The more recent accentuation of concepts such as "national ownership" and "partnership" among development agencies reflects a concern for bringing in a new dynamic in the way donors and recipients of aid relate. It is based on the assumption that there is causal link between the effectiveness of aid and the way it is delivered. The nature of the aid relationship matters. In this paper we shall examine the two concepts more carefully. What do they mean? Are they mutually consistent? How do they relate to other aid principles and in particular the principle of "recipient responsibility" which has been promulgated by NORAD for several years already? And finally, we shall discuss whether this new rhetoric addresses two of the main incentive problems in aid relationships, namely the pressure to give and the lack of results orientation.