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Human Rights Treaty Ratification of Aid Receiving Countries

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  • Magesan, Arvind

Abstract

This paper examines the consequences of participation in unenforceable international human rights institutions for economic and political development. Specifically, we study the empirical relationship between foreign aid, human rights, and participation in the United Nations Human Rights Treaties (HRT). We find that HRT participation has a significant positive effect on a country’s foreign aid receipts, but precipitates a decline in domestic human rights institutions. Taken together, the results suggest that rewarding participation in international human rights agreements with foreign aid is detrimental to human rights in recipient countries.

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  • Magesan, Arvind, 2013. "Human Rights Treaty Ratification of Aid Receiving Countries," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 175-188.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:45:y:2013:i:c:p:175-188
    DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2012.11.003
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    Cited by:

    1. Gerrit Faber & Michiel Gerritse, 2017. "Does Institutional Change Spread Across Countries? Explaining Spatial Patterns in Human Rights," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(5), pages 906-930, May.
    2. Schmaljohann, Maya, 2013. "Pretending to be the Good Guy. How to Increase ODA Inflows while Abusing Human Rights," Working Papers 0549, University of Heidelberg, Department of Economics.
    3. Arvind Magesan, "undated". "Foreign Aid and Economic Growth in Developing Countries: An Instrumental Variables Approach," Working Papers 2015-08, Department of Economics, University of Calgary, revised 25 Jun 2015.
    4. Nathan Yang, 2011. "An Empirical Model of Industry Dynamics with Common Uncertainty and Learning from the Actions of Competitors," Working Papers 11-16, NET Institute.
    5. Norbert Brunner & Vijay Mishra & Ponnusamy Sakthivel & Markus Starkl & Christof Tschohl, 2015. "The Human Right to Water in Law and Implementation," Laws, MDPI, vol. 4(3), pages 1-59, August.

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