Is favoritism a threat to Chinese aid effectiveness? A subnational analysis of Chinese development projects

Arbeitspapier

Chinese aid comes with few strings attached, allowing recipient country leaders to use it for domestic political purposes. The vulnerability of Chinese aid to political capture has prompted speculation that it may be economically ineffective, or even harmful. We test these claims by estimating the effect of Chinese aid on subnational economic development - as measured by per-capita nighttime light emissions - and whether this effect is different in politically favored jurisdictions than in other parts of the country. Contrary to the conventional wisdom, we do not nd that the local receipt of Chinese aid undermines economic development outcomes at either the district level or provincial level. Nor does political favoritism in the allocation of Chinese aid towards the home regions of recipient country leaders reduce its effectiveness. Our results - from 709 provinces and 5,835 districts within 47 African countries from 2001-2012 - demonstrate that Chinese aid improves local development outcomes, regardless of whether such aid is allocated to politically consequential jurisdictions.

Angaben zum Objekt

• Sprache: Englisch

Verweise und Beziehungen

• Erschienen in: Series: Kiel Working Paper ; No. 2134

Klassifikation und Themen

• Klassifikation: Wirtschaft ; Bureaucracy; Administrative Processes in Public Organizations; Corruption ; Foreign Aid ; International Linkages to Development; Role of International Organizations ; Empirical Studies of Economic Growth; Aggregate Productivity; Cross-Country Output Convergence ; Socialist Institutions and Their Transitions: International Trade, Finance, Investment, Relations, and Aid ; Regional Economic Activity: Growth, Development, Environmental Issues, and Changes
• Thema: foreign aid ; development finance ; aid effectiveness ; favoritism ; economic growth ; Africa ; China

Beteiligte, Orts- und Zeitangaben

• Ereignis: Geistige Schöpfung
• (wer): Dreher, Axel ; Fuchs, Andreas ; Hodler, Roland ; Parks, Bradley ; Raschky, Paul A. ; Tierney, Michael J.
• Ereignis: Veröffentlichung
• (wer): Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW)
• (wo): Kiel
• (wann): 2019

Weitere Informationen

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/200199
• Letzte Aktualisierung: 10.03.2025, 11:45 MEZ