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Foreign aid and voting in international organizations: Evidence from the IWC

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  • Dippel, Christian

Abstract

I use a unique dispute between major aid donors in the International Whaling Commission (IWC) to investigate whether donor nations change their aid giving in response to changes in aid recipients' voting behavior inside international organizations (IOs). This relationship is difficult to pin down in most IOs because agenda items constantly change and donor coalitions fluctuate with them. I exploit the fact that the IWC has, on the one hand, seen two fixed aid donor blocs opposing each other for three decades over a single issue, but has on the other hand seen rich variation in both membership and voting behavior of aid recipient countries. Using an identification strategy that relates changes in bilateral aid to within-recipient variation in IWC voting-bloc affiliation and fixed cross-sectional variation in donors' voting bloc, the evidence suggests that Japan rewards joining the pro-whaling bloc, and that countries who recently experienced aid reductions from the three big anti-whaling donors – the U.S., the U.K., and France – are more likely to join the pro-whaling bloc.

Suggested Citation

  • Dippel, Christian, 2015. "Foreign aid and voting in international organizations: Evidence from the IWC," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 1-12.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:pubeco:v:132:y:2015:i:c:p:1-12
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jpubeco.2015.08.012
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    10. Christian Dippel & Avner Greif & Daniel Trefler, 2020. "Outside Options, Coercion, and Wages: Removing the Sugar Coating," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 130(630), pages 1678-1714.
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    Cited by:

    1. Dreher, Axel & Lang, Valentin F. & Richert, Katharina, 2019. "The political economy of International Finance Corporation lending," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 140(C), pages 242-254.
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    3. Ambrocio, Gene & Hasan, Iftekhar, 2021. "Quid pro quo? Political ties and sovereign borrowing," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    4. Rommel, Tobias & Schaudt, Paul, 2020. "First impressions: How leader changes affect bilateral aid," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 185(C).
    5. Ambrocio, Gene & Hasan, Iftekhar, 2019. "Friends for the benefits: The effects of political ties on sovereign borrowing conditions," Research Discussion Papers 13/2019, Bank of Finland.
    6. Angelika J. Budjan & Andreas Fuchs, 2021. "Democracy and Aid Donorship," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 13(4), pages 217-238, November.
    7. 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).
    8. Julia Braun & Martin Zagler, 2018. "The true art of the tax deal: Evidence on aid flows and bilateral double tax agreements," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(6), pages 1478-1507, June.
    9. R. Melis Baydag & Stephan Klingebiel, 2023. "Partner country selection between development narratives and self‐interests: A new method for analysing complex donor approaches," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(2), pages 1199-1223, May.
    10. Ambrocio, Gene & Hasan, Iftekhar, 2019. "Friends for the benefits: The effects of political ties on sovereign borrowing conditions," Bank of Finland Research Discussion Papers 13/2019, Bank of Finland.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Foreign aid; Vote buying; International organizations;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
    • F35 - International Economics - - International Finance - - - Foreign Aid
    • F53 - International Economics - - International Relations, National Security, and International Political Economy - - - International Agreements and Observance; International Organizations

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