sustainable effects. The power of post-conflict aid to increase the overall level of foreign aid is rather small, suggesting that there are no spill-over effects in the long run, even if the respective economy is in need of long-term support. Thus, post-conflict aid is timely limited and has a rather small effect on the tong-term growth. According to the World Bank report, post-conflict aid should be phased in slowly so that it reaches its peak level in the middle of the first post-war decade. At this point, it should be doubled before being reduced. Aid patterns Post-conflict aid is not granted without certain patterns but follows the donor's strategic rationales. The rationales can be of humanitarian nature or be based on the interest of implementing a peace agreement, typically in accordance to a political agenda. Another motivation might be the targeted state itself which might either be a client regime, or a region where the donor hopes to gain political or economic influence over. By looking at the donor-side, empirical research suggests multiple characteristics as useful predictors for post-conflict economic assistance: Aid from OECD countries starts in most cases in the aftermath of a conflict and increases over time, especially if OECD or UN Peacekeeping troops were involved during the conflict or the conflict management. OECD countries provide more aid to countries with a high level of democracy and an open-market economy but are more reluctant to provide it for (highly) developed countries. They are also more likely to assist countries which are undergoing a regime transition or change, especially if this leads to a donor-favored regime or peace agreement. But even countries with a donor-favored regime or peace agreement can lose funding in cases of ineffective policy-implementation, human rights considerations or a reduced sense of emergency. On the average this happens three to four years after the conflict. References Humanitarian aid Aid