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Does private aid follow the flag? An empirical analysis of humanitarian assistance

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  • Fuchs, Andreas
  • Öhler, Hannes

Abstract

This paper compares the allocation of private humanitarian aid to that of official humanitarian aid awarded to 140 recipient countries over the 2000–2016 period. We construct a new database that offers information on the country in which the headquarters of private donors are located to test whether private aid tends to follow the humanitarian aid allocation pattern of the respective official donor. Our empirical results confirm that private humanitarian aid tends to “follow the flag”. This finding is robust against the inclusion of various fixed effects, estimating instrumental variables models and disaggregating private humanitarian aid into corporate aid and NGO aid. Donor country-specific estimations reveal that private humanitarian aid from China, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States tend to “follow the flag”.

Suggested Citation

  • Fuchs, Andreas & Öhler, Hannes, 2021. "Does private aid follow the flag? An empirical analysis of humanitarian assistance," Open Access Publications from Kiel Institute for the World Economy 230193, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:ifwkie:230193
    DOI: 10.1111/twec.13021
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    3. Kaplan, Lennart, 2020. "Systemic challenges and opportunities of Franco-German development cooperation," IDOS Discussion Papers 10/2020, German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    aid allocation; corporations; disaster relief; foreign aid; humanitarian assistance; non‐governmental organisations; private donors; private foundations;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H84 - Public Economics - - Miscellaneous Issues - - - Disaster Aid
    • F35 - International Economics - - International Finance - - - Foreign Aid
    • F59 - International Economics - - International Relations, National Security, and International Political Economy - - - Other

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