A recent systematic review by Zurcher (World Develop 98: 506–522, 2017) finds that humanitarian aid unequivocally increases violence. This note demonstrates that this conclusion is not warranted by a careful examination of the studies included in the abovementioned systematic review. We highlight the incorrect interpretation of econometric results and the lack of robustness in the sampled studies. We also replicate three studies, and report mixed evidence on the effect of humanitarian aid on violence.
