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Chinese official finance and political participation in Africa

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  • Iacoella, Francesco
  • Martorano, Bruno
  • Metzger, Laura
  • Sanfilippo, Marco

Abstract

Media outlets globally have been reporting about civil protests against Chinese investments in Africa. We provide new evidence on this controversial topic and investigate the influence of Chinese official projects on political participation in 54 African countries between 2000 and 2014. Using 50 × 50 km cells as the unit of analysis, we match data on the occurrence of protests and other forms of political participation to georeferenced data on projects financed by the Chinese government. We find that cells which receive a larger number of projects are more likely to experience protests. Further, our analysis suggests that citizens’ heightened perception of China's rising influence on the domestic economy and lowered trust in the local government are two channels through which projects might motivate local protests.

Suggested Citation

  • Iacoella, Francesco & Martorano, Bruno & Metzger, Laura & Sanfilippo, Marco, 2021. "Chinese official finance and political participation in Africa," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 136(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:eecrev:v:136:y:2021:i:c:s0014292121000945
    DOI: 10.1016/j.euroecorev.2021.103741
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    Cited by:

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    3. Coniglio, Nicola Daniele & Peragine, Vitorocco & Vurchio, Davide, 2023. "The effects of refugees’ camps on hosting areas: Social conflicts and economic growth," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 168(C).
    4. Andreas Freytag & Miriam Kautz & Moritz Wolf, 2024. "Chinese aid and democratic values in Latin America," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 198(3), pages 531-593, March.
    5. Gehring, Kai & Kaplan, Lennart C. & Wong, Melvin H.L., 2022. "China and the World Bank—How contrasting development approaches affect the stability of African states," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    6. Wellner, Lukas & Dreher, Axel & Fuchs, Andreas & Parks, Bradley & Strange, Austin M., 2022. "Can aid buy foreign public support? Evidence from Chinese development finance," Kiel Working Papers 2214, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    7. Hoeffler, Anke & Sterck, Olivier, 2022. "Is Chinese aid different?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).
    8. Becker, Malte & Krüger, Finja & Heidland, Tobias, 2022. "Country, culture or competition: What drives attitudes towards immigrants in Sub-Saharan Africa?," Kiel Working Papers 2224, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Chinese official finance; Protests; Geocoded data; China; Africa;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O12 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development
    • O55 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Africa

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