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

Axel Dreher, Andreas Fuchs, Roland Hodler, Bradley Parks, Paul Raschky and Michael J. Tierney

No 2134, Kiel Working Papers from Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel)

Abstract: 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.

Keywords: foreign aid; development finance; aid effectiveness; favoritism; economic growth; Africa; China (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D73 F35 O19 O47 P33 R11 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-afr, nep-cna and nep-dev
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (9)

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Related works:
Journal Article: Is Favoritism a Threat to Chinese Aid Effectiveness? A Subnational Analysis of Chinese Development Projects (2021)
Working Paper: Is Favoritism a Threat to Chinese Aid Effectiveness? A Subnational Analysis of Chinese Development Projects (2019)
Working Paper: Is Favoritism a Threat to Chinese Aid Effectiveness? A Subnational Analysis of Chinese Development Projects (2019)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:zbw:ifwkwp:2134

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