IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/wdevel/v186y2025ics0305750x24002857.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

What do aid recipients want? Public attitudes toward foreign aid in developing countries

Author

Listed:
  • Kim, Sung Eun
  • Park, Jong Hee
  • Rhee, Inbok
  • Yang, Joonseok

Abstract

Individuals in developing countries are the ultimate end users of foreign aid. While the international donor community has emphasized the importance of aligning aid with recipient countries’ preferences, the literature on public opinion and foreign aid has remained largely focused on donors. Using an original conjoint experiment conducted in seven developing countries, we examine the determinants of public attitudes toward foreign aid in recipient countries. We find that the characteristics of donor countries and foreign aid projects significantly influence recipient attitudes, often more than the size of the aid packages themselves. Individuals in recipient countries consistently prefer aid from democracies and donors with transparent aid agencies, as well as aid delivered by international organizations rather than directly from donor countries’ aid agencies. These findings underscore the importance of multilateral aid agencies in aligning the preferences of donors and recipients.

Suggested Citation

  • Kim, Sung Eun & Park, Jong Hee & Rhee, Inbok & Yang, Joonseok, 2025. "What do aid recipients want? Public attitudes toward foreign aid in developing countries," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 186(C).
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:186:y:2025:i:c:s0305750x24002857
    DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2024.106815
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305750X24002857
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.worlddev.2024.106815?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Dreher, Axel & Lang, Valentin & Reinsberg, Bernhard, 2024. "Aid effectiveness and donor motives," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 176(C).
    2. Leeper, Thomas J. & Hobolt, Sara B. & Tilley, James, 2020. "Measuring Subgroup Preferences in Conjoint Experiments," Political Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 28(2), pages 207-221, April.
    3. Martens,Bertin & Mummert,Uwe & Murrell,Peter & Seabright,Paul, 2008. "The Institutional Economics of Foreign Aid," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521055390, June.
    4. Helen V. Milner & Dustin Tingley, 2013. "Public Opinion and Foreign Aid: A Review Essay," International Interactions, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(3), pages 389-401, July.
    5. Ms. Anja Baum, 2020. "Vietnam's Development Success Story and the Unfinished SDG Agenda," IMF Working Papers 2020/031, International Monetary Fund.
    6. Cashel-Cordo, Peter & Craig, Steven G, 1997. "Donor Preferences and Recipient Fiscal Behavior: A Simultaneous Analysis of Foreign Aid," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 35(3), pages 653-671, July.
    7. Heinrich, Tobias & Kobayashi, Yoshiharu & Bryant, Kristin A., 2016. "Public Opinion and Foreign Aid Cuts in Economic Crises," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 66-79.
    8. Findley, Michael G. & Harris, Adam S. & Milner, Helen V. & Nielson, Daniel L., 2017. "Who Controls Foreign Aid? Elite versus Public Perceptions of Donor Influence in Aid-Dependent Uganda," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 71(4), pages 633-663, October.
    9. Jean‐Claude Berthélemy, 2006. "Bilateral Donors’ Interest vs. Recipients’ Development Motives in Aid Allocation: Do All Donors Behave the Same?," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 10(2), pages 179-194, May.
    10. Bermeo, Sarah Blodgett, 2016. "Aid Is Not Oil: Donor Utility, Heterogeneous Aid, and the Aid-Democratization Relationship," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 70(1), pages 1-32, January.
    11. Honig, Dan & Weaver, Catherine, 2019. "A Race to the Top? The Aid Transparency Index and the Social Power of Global Performance Indicators," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 73(3), pages 579-610, July.
    12. William Easterly & Tobias Pfutze, 2008. "Where Does the Money Go? Best and Worst Practices in Foreign Aid," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 22(2), pages 29-52, Spring.
    13. Lynda Pickbourn & Raymond Caraher & Léonce Ndikumana, 2022. "Does project-level aid for water and sanitation improve child health outcomes?: Evidence from household panel data in Uganda," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2022-141, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    14. Mr. Alexander Pivovarsky & Mr. Benedict J. Clements & Mr. Sanjeev Gupta & Mr. Erwin H Tiongson, 2003. "Foreign Aid and Revenue Response: Does the Composition of Aid Matter?," IMF Working Papers 2003/176, International Monetary Fund.
    15. Maekawa, Wakako, 2024. "United Nations peacekeeping operations and multilateral foreign aid: Credibility of good governance," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 176(C).
    16. Pickbourn, Lynda & Caraher, Raymond & Ndikumana, Léonce, 2022. "Does project-level foreign aid increase access to improved water sources? Evidence from household panel data in Uganda," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    17. Michael G. Findley & Helen V. Milner & Daniel L. Nielson, 2017. "The choice among aid donors: The effects of multilateral vs. bilateral aid on recipient behavioral support," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 12(2), pages 307-334, June.
    18. Honig, Dan & Weaver, Catherine, 2019. "A Race to the Top? The Aid Transparency Index and the Social Power of Global Performance Indicators – ERRATUM," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 73(3), pages 709-711, July.
    19. Winters, Matthew S. & Martinez, Gina, 2015. "The Role of Governance in Determining Foreign Aid Flow Composition," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 516-531.
    20. Felicitas Nowak-Lehmann & Inmaculada Martínez-Zarzoso & Dierk Herzer & Stephan Klasen & Adriana Cardozo, 2013. "Does foreign aid promote recipient exports to donor countries?," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 149(3), pages 505-535, September.
    21. Ghosh, Anirban & Kharas, Homi, 2011. "The Money Trail: Ranking Donor Transparency in Foreign Aid," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 39(11), pages 1918-1929.
    22. Justin Esarey & Jacqueline H. R. DeMeritt, 2017. "Political Context and the Consequences of Naming and Shaming for Human Rights Abuse," International Interactions, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 43(4), pages 589-618, July.
    23. Dietrich, Simone & Winters, Matthew S., 2015. "Foreign Aid and Government Legitimacy," Journal of Experimental Political Science, Cambridge University Press, vol. 2(2), pages 164-171, January.
    24. Dollar, David & Levin, Victoria, 2006. "The Increasing Selectivity of Foreign Aid, 1984-2003," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 34(12), pages 2034-2046, December.
    25. Tony Killick, 1996. "Principals, Agents and the Limitations of BWI Conditionality," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 19(2), pages 211-229, March.
    26. Hainmueller, Jens & Hopkins, Daniel J. & Yamamoto, Teppei, 2014. "Causal Inference in Conjoint Analysis: Understanding Multidimensional Choices via Stated Preference Experiments," Political Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 22(1), pages 1-30, January.
    27. Briggs, Ryan C., 2017. "Does Foreign Aid Target the Poorest?," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 71(1), pages 187-206, January.
    28. Helen Milner & Dustin Tingley, 2013. "The choice for multilateralism: Foreign aid and American foreign policy," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 8(3), pages 313-341, September.
    29. Heinrich, Tobias & Kobayashi, Yoshiharu, 2020. "How Do People Evaluate Foreign Aid To ‘Nasty’ Regimes?," British Journal of Political Science, Cambridge University Press, vol. 50(1), pages 103-127, January.
    30. Helen V. Milner & Daniel L. Nielson & Michael G. Findley, 2016. "Citizen preferences and public goods: comparing preferences for foreign aid and government programs in Uganda," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 11(2), pages 219-245, June.
    31. Dietrich, Simone, 2016. "Donor Political Economies and the Pursuit of Aid Effectiveness," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 70(1), pages 65-102, January.
    32. Leeper, Thomas J. & Hobolt, Sara & Tilley, James, 2020. "Measuring subgroup preferences in conjoint experiments," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 100944, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    33. Bermeo, Sarah Blodgett, 2011. "Foreign Aid and Regime Change: A Role for Donor Intent," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 39(11), pages 2021-2031.
    34. Goldsmith, Benjamin E. & Horiuchi, Yusaku & Wood, Terence, 2014. "Doing Well by Doing Good: The Impact of Foreign Aid on Foreign Public Opinion," Quarterly Journal of Political Science, now publishers, vol. 9(1), pages 87-114, March.
    35. Horiuchi, Yusaku & Markovich, Zachary & Yamamoto, Teppei, 2022. "Does Conjoint Analysis Mitigate Social Desirability Bias?," Political Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 30(4), pages 535-549, October.
    36. Berinsky, Adam J. & Huber, Gregory A. & Lenz, Gabriel S., 2012. "Evaluating Online Labor Markets for Experimental Research: Amazon.com's Mechanical Turk," Political Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 20(3), pages 351-368, July.
    37. Hennessy, Jack & Mortimer, Duncan & Sweeney, Rohan & Woode, Maame Esi, 2023. "Donor versus recipient preferences for aid allocation: A systematic review of stated-preference studies," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 334(C).
    38. Blair, Robert A. & Marty, Robert & Roessler, Philip, 2022. "Foreign Aid and Soft Power: Great Power Competition in Africa in the Early Twenty-first Century," British Journal of Political Science, Cambridge University Press, vol. 52(3), pages 1355-1376, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Dreher, Axel & Lang, Valentin & Reinsberg, Bernhard, 2023. "Aid Effectiveness and Donor Motives," CEPR Discussion Papers 18417, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    2. Dreher, Axel & Lang, Valentin & Reinsberg, Bernhard, 2024. "Aid effectiveness and donor motives," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 176(C).
    3. Lauren L. Ferry & Emilie M. Hafner-Burton & Christina J. Schneider, 2020. "Catch me if you care: International development organizations and national corruption," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 15(4), pages 767-792, October.
    4. Michael G. Findley & Helen V. Milner & Daniel L. Nielson, 2017. "The choice among aid donors: The effects of multilateral vs. bilateral aid on recipient behavioral support," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 12(2), pages 307-334, June.
    5. Brandon Cuesta & Lucy Martin & Helen V. Milner & Daniel L. Nielson, 2021. "Foreign aid, oil revenues, and political accountability: Evidence from six experiments in Ghana and Uganda," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 16(3), pages 521-548, July.
    6. Cheeseman, Nic & Swedlund, Haley J. & O'Brien-Udry, Cleo, 2024. "Foreign aid withdrawals and suspensions: Why, when and are they effective?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 178(C).
    7. 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.
    8. Eichenauer, Vera Z. & Fuchs, Andreas & Brueckner, Lutz, 2018. "The Effects of Trade, Aid, and Investment on China's Image in Developing Countries," Working Papers 0646, University of Heidelberg, Department of Economics.
    9. Axel Dreher & Sarah Langlotz & Silvia Marchesi, 2017. "Information Transmission And Ownership Consolidation In Aid Programs," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 55(4), pages 1671-1688, October.
    10. Rudolph, Lukas & Freitag, Markus & Thurner, Paul, 2021. "The Comparative Legitimacy of Arms Exports - A Conjoint Experiment in Germany and France," SocArXiv r73pv, Center for Open Science.
    11. Tobias Heinrich & Yoshiharu Kobayashi, 2022. "Evaluating explanations for poverty selectivity in foreign aid," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 75(1), pages 30-47, February.
    12. Bernhard Reinsberg & Haley Swedlund, 2023. "How transparent are aid agencies to their citizens? Introducing the Citizen Aid Transparency Dataset," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 35(7), pages 2177-2212, October.
    13. Reinsberg, Bernhard, 2015. "Foreign Aid Responses to Political Liberalization," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 46-61.
    14. Raman, Shyam & Kriner, Douglas & Ziebarth, Nicolas & Simon, Kosali & Kreps, Sarah, 2022. "COVID-19 booster uptake among US adults: Assessing the impact of vaccine attributes, incentives, and context in a choice-based experiment," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 310(C).
    15. Ziff, Alix, 2023. "Aid accessibility: Equity & education in Kenya," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    16. Hennessy, Jack & Mortimer, Duncan & Sweeney, Rohan & Woode, Maame Esi, 2023. "Donor versus recipient preferences for aid allocation: A systematic review of stated-preference studies," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 334(C).
    17. Liya Palagashvili & Claudia R. Williamson, 2021. "Grading foreign aid agencies: Best practices across traditional and emerging donors," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(2), pages 654-676, May.
    18. Daniel L. Nielson & Bradley Parks & Michael J. Tierney, 2017. "International organizations and development finance: Introduction to the special issue," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 12(2), pages 157-169, June.
    19. Kim, Nam Kyu & Kroeger, Alex, 2017. "Rewarding the introduction of multiparty elections," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 164-181.
    20. Corwin, Hillary, 2023. "Coercive and catalytic strategies for human rights promotion: State violence and foreign assistance," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 167(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:186:y:2025:i:c:s0305750x24002857. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/worlddev .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.