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Why donors of foreign aid do not coordinate: The role of competition for export markets and political support

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  • Fuchs, Andreas
  • Nunnenkamp, Peter
  • Öhler, Hannes

Abstract

Development assistance has been criticized for a lack of coordination between aid donors. This paper argues that competition for export markets and political support prevents donor countries from closer coordination of aid activities. To test these hypotheses, we perform logit and fractional logit estimations for a large sample of recipient countries and aid activities since the early 1970s. Our empirical results reveal that export competition between donors is a major impediment to aid coordination. Tough less conclusive, we also find some evidence that donors' competition over political support prevents them from coordinating aid activities more closely.

Suggested Citation

  • Fuchs, Andreas & Nunnenkamp, Peter & Öhler, Hannes, 2013. "Why donors of foreign aid do not coordinate: The role of competition for export markets and political support," Kiel Working Papers 1825, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:ifwkwp:1825
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    development aid; donor coordination; trade interests; export similarity; UN voting;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F35 - International Economics - - International Finance - - - Foreign Aid
    • F42 - International Economics - - Macroeconomic Aspects of International Trade and Finance - - - International Policy Coordination and Transmission
    • F53 - International Economics - - International Relations, National Security, and International Political Economy - - - International Agreements and Observance; International Organizations

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