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Foreign Aid, Human Rights, and Democracy Promotion: Evidence from a Natural Experiment

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  • Allison Carnegie
  • Nikolay Marinov

Abstract

Does foreign aid improve human rights and democracy? We help arbitrate the debate over this question by leveraging a novel source of exogeneity: the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union. We find that when a country's former colonizer holds the presidency of the Council of the European Union during the budget‐making process, the country is allocated considerably more foreign aid than are countries whose former colonizer does not hold the presidency. Using instrumental variables estimation, we demonstrate that this aid has positive effects on human rights and democracy, although the effects are short‐lived after the shock to aid dissipates. We adduce the timing of events, qualitative evidence, and theoretical insights to argue that the conditionality associated with an increased aid commitment is responsible for the positive effects in the domains of human rights and democracy.

Suggested Citation

  • Allison Carnegie & Nikolay Marinov, 2017. "Foreign Aid, Human Rights, and Democracy Promotion: Evidence from a Natural Experiment," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 61(3), pages 671-683, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:amposc:v:61:y:2017:i:3:p:671-683
    DOI: 10.1111/ajps.12289
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Michael A. Clemens & Hannah M. Postel, 2018. "Deterring Emigration with Foreign Aid: An Overview of Evidence from Low‐Income Countries," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 44(4), pages 667-693, December.
    2. Toke S. Aidt & Facundo Albornoz & Esther Hauk, 2019. "Foreign in influence and domestic policy: A survey," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 1928, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
    3. Nathalie Ferrière, 2022. "To Give or Not to Give? How Do Other Donors React to European Food Aid Allocation?," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 34(1), pages 147-171, February.
    4. Dreher, Axel & Fuchs, Andreas & Langlotz, Sarah, 2019. "The effects of foreign aid on refugee flows," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 127-147.
    5. Apoorva Lal & Mac Lockhart & Yiqing Xu & Ziwen Zu, 2023. "How Much Should We Trust Instrumental Variable Estimates in Political Science? Practical Advice Based on Over 60 Replicated Studies," Papers 2303.11399, arXiv.org, revised Nov 2023.
    6. Dreher, Axel & Lang, Valentin & Reinsberg, Bernhard, 2024. "Aid effectiveness and donor motives," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 176(C).
    7. Brett L Carter, 2023. "Can Western Donors Constrain Repressive Governments? Evidence from Debt Relief Negotiations in Africa," Journal of Conflict Resolution, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 67(6), pages 1183-1217, July.
    8. Laura E. Jacobson, 2020. "President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) Policy Process and the Conversation around HIV/AIDS in the United States," Journal of Development Policy and Practice, , vol. 5(2), pages 149-166, July.
    9. Bai, Yu & Li, Yanjun & Wang, Yunuo, 2022. "Chinese aid and local political attitudes," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 113(C).
    10. Sara Kahn-Nisser, 2021. "For better or worse: Shaming, faming, and human rights abuse," Journal of Peace Research, Peace Research Institute Oslo, vol. 58(3), pages 479-493, May.
    11. Toke S. Aidt & Facundo Albornoz & Esther Hauk, 2021. "Foreign Influence and Domestic Policy," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 59(2), pages 426-487, June.
    12. Corwin, Hillary, 2023. "Coercive and catalytic strategies for human rights promotion: State violence and foreign assistance," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 167(C).
    13. Gleditsch Kristian Skrede, 2023. "“This Research has Important Policy Implications…”," Peace Economics, Peace Science, and Public Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 29(1), pages 1-17, February.
    14. Copelovitch, Mark & Rickard, Stephanie, 2021. "Partisan technocrats: how leaders matter in international organizations," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 112215, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    15. Merih Angin & Albana Shehaj & Adrian J. Shin, 2021. "Inside job: Migration and distributive politics in the European Union," Economics and Politics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(2), pages 264-288, July.
    16. Tobias Heinrich & Matt W. Loftis, 2019. "Democracy Aid and Electoral Accountability," Journal of Conflict Resolution, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 63(1), pages 139-166, January.
    17. Smidt, Lea & Taube, Lena & Polak, Tobias, 2024. "Do aid agencies comply with human rights requirements in Practice? Systematic evidence on the integration of human rights in German development cooperation," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 181(C).
    18. Osman S Kiratli, 2019. "Aiding together? Europeans’ attitudes on common aid policy," European Union Politics, , vol. 20(2), pages 261-281, June.
    19. Richard Clark & Lindsay R. Dolan, 2021. "Pleasing the Principal: U.S. Influence in World Bank Policymaking," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 65(1), pages 36-51, January.
    20. Ga‐Young So, 2024. "How does diversity affect the effectiveness of capacity building training? Evidence from the Republic of Korea," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 42(3), May.
    21. Christoph Mikulaschek, 2018. "Issue linkage across international organizations: Does European countries’ temporary membership in the UN Security Council increase their receipts from the EU budget?," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 13(4), pages 491-518, December.

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