IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/poleco/v45y2016isp24-38.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Aiding economic freedom: Exploring the role of political institutions

Author

Listed:
  • Dutta, Nabamita
  • Williamson, Claudia R.

Abstract

Can foreign aid promote economic freedom? The existing literature does not provide a conclusive answer. Using a panel of 108 countries from 1971 to 2010, we provide insight to this discussion by examining aid's impact on economic freedom conditional on the quality of political institutions. We find some evidence suggesting that aid can improve economic freedom when given to democracies, but it may decrease it in autocracies. Also, aid given to entrenched regimes may reduce economic freedom. We illustrate that the results are sensitive to model selection, choice of controls, time period sample, and measurement of aid. Our results have important policy implications. Most countries that ‘need’ aid do not have healthy political institutions. As such, aid is less likely to have a positive impact on economic freedom, partially explaining the contradictory findings in the literature. This also highlights the difficulty of finding a top-down solution to institutional improvements.

Suggested Citation

  • Dutta, Nabamita & Williamson, Claudia R., 2016. "Aiding economic freedom: Exploring the role of political institutions," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 45(S), pages 24-38.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:poleco:v:45:y:2016:i:s:p:24-38
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ejpoleco.2016.07.009
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0176268016301045
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.ejpoleco.2016.07.009?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. Joseph Wright, 2009. "How Foreign Aid Can Foster Democratization in Authoritarian Regimes," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 53(3), pages 552-571, July.
    2. Eric Werker & Faisal Z. Ahmed & Charles Cohen, 2009. "How Is Foreign Aid Spent? Evidence from a Natural Experiment," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 1(2), pages 225-244, July.
    3. Kilby, Christopher & Dreher, Axel, 2010. "The impact of aid on growth revisited: Do donor motives matter?," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 107(3), pages 338-340, June.
    4. Young, Andrew T. & Sheehan, Kathleen M., 2014. "Foreign aid, institutional quality, and growth," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 195-208.
    5. Trude Midtgaard & Krishna Vadlamannati & Indra Soysa, 2014. "Does the IMF cause civil war? A comment," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 9(1), pages 107-124, March.
    6. Axel Dreher & Vera Eichenauer & Kai Gehring & Vera Z. Eichenauer, 2013. "Geopolitics, Aid and Growth," CESifo Working Paper Series 4299, CESifo.
    7. Dreher, Axel & Rupprecht, Sarah M., 2007. "IMF programs and reforms -- inhibition or encouragement?," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 95(3), pages 320-326, June.
    8. Askarov, Zohid & Doucouliagos, Hristos, 2015. "Aid and institutions in transition economies," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 55-70.
    9. Axel Dreher & Sarah Langlotz, 2020. "Aid and growth: New evidence using an excludable instrument," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 53(3), pages 1162-1198, August.
    10. Bergh, Andreas & Nilsson, Therese, 2010. "Do liberalization and globalization increase income inequality?," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 26(4), pages 488-505, December.
    11. Shantayanan Devarajan & David R. Dollar & Torgny Holmgren, 2001. "Aid and Reform in Africa : Lessons from Ten Case Studies," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 13894.
    12. Joshua C. Hall & Robert A. Lawson, 2014. "Economic Freedom Of The World: An Accounting Of The Literature," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 32(1), pages 1-19, January.
    13. Mohtadi, Hamid & Roe, Terry L., 2003. "Democracy, rent seeking, public spending and growth," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(3-4), pages 445-466, March.
    14. Torsten Persson & Guido Tabellini, 2006. "Democracy and Development: The Devil in the Details," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 96(2), pages 319-324, May.
    15. Dreher, Axel & Vreeland, James Raymond, 2011. "Buying votes and international organizations," University of Göttingen Working Papers in Economics 123, University of Goettingen, Department of Economics.
    16. David Roodman, 2009. "A Note on the Theme of Too Many Instruments," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 71(1), pages 135-158, February.
    17. Christian Bjørnskov, 2019. "Types of Foreign Aid," Springer Books, in: Nabamita Dutta & Claudia R. Williamson (ed.), Lessons on Foreign Aid and Economic Development, chapter 0, pages 33-61, Springer.
    18. Dunning, Thad, 2004. "Conditioning the Effects of Aid: Cold War Politics, Donor Credibility, and Democracy in Africa," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 58(2), pages 409-423, April.
    19. Kevin Morrison, 2007. "Natural resources, aid, and democratization: A best-case scenario," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 131(3), pages 365-386, June.
    20. Christopher Kilby, 2009. "Donor influence in international financial institutions: Deciphering what alignment measures measure," Villanova School of Business Department of Economics and Statistics Working Paper Series 8, Villanova School of Business Department of Economics and Statistics.
    21. Bruce Bueno De Mesquita & Alastair Smith, 2010. "Leader Survival, Revolutions, and the Nature of Government Finance," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 54(4), pages 936-950, October.
    22. Coviello, Decio & Islam, Roumeen, 2006. "Does aid help improve economic institutions ?," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3990, The World Bank.
    23. David Roodman, 2009. "How to do xtabond2: An introduction to difference and system GMM in Stata," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 9(1), pages 86-136, March.
    24. Kilby, Christopher, 2005. "Aid and regulation," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 45(2-3), pages 325-345, May.
    25. Derek Headey, 2008. "Geopolitics and the effect of foreign aid on economic growth: 1970-2001," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 20(2), pages 161-180.
    26. Boockmann, Bernhard & Dreher, Axel, 2003. "The contribution of the IMF and the World Bank to economic freedom," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 19(3), pages 633-649, September.
    27. Morrison, Kevin M., 2009. "Oil, Nontax Revenue, and the Redistributional Foundations of Regime Stability," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 63(1), pages 107-138, January.
    28. Axel Dreher & Jan-Egbert Sturm, 2012. "Do the IMF and the World Bank influence voting in the UN General Assembly?," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 151(1), pages 363-397, April.
    29. Simeon Djankov & Jose Montalvo & Marta Reynal-Querol, 2008. "The curse of aid," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 13(3), pages 169-194, September.
    30. Michael P. Murray, 2006. "Avoiding Invalid Instruments and Coping with Weak Instruments," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 20(4), pages 111-132, Fall.
    31. Arellano, Manuel & Bover, Olympia, 1995. "Another look at the instrumental variable estimation of error-components models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 68(1), pages 29-51, July.
    32. Ilyana Kuziemko & Eric Werker, 2006. "How Much Is a Seat on the Security Council Worth? Foreign Aid and Bribery at the United Nations," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 114(5), pages 905-930, October.
    33. Bruce Bueno de Mesquita & Alastair Smith, 2010. "The Pernicious Consequences of UN Security Council Membership," Journal of Conflict Resolution, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 54(5), pages 667-686, October.
    34. Christensen, Zachary & Homer, Dustin & Nielson, Daniel L., 2011. "Dodging Adverse Selection: How Donor Type and Governance Condition Aid’s Effects on School Enrollment," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 39(11), pages 2044-2053.
    35. Ellyn Creasey & Ahmed S. Rahman & Katherine A. Smith, 2015. "Does Nation Building Spur Economic Growth?," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 53(1), pages 660-680, January.
    36. Dreher, Axel & Sturm, Jan-Egbert & Vreeland, James Raymond, 2009. "Development aid and international politics: Does membership on the UN Security Council influence World Bank decisions?," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(1), pages 1-18, January.
    37. Michael A. Clemens & Steven Radelet & Rikhil R. Bhavnani & Samuel Bazzi, 2012. "Counting Chickens when they Hatch: Timing and the Effects of Aid on Growth," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 122(561), pages 590-617, June.
    38. Dreher, Axel & Sturm, Jan-Egbert & Vreeland, James Raymond, 2009. "Global horse trading: IMF loans for votes in the United Nations Security Council," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 53(7), pages 742-757, October.
    39. Stephen Knack, 2001. "Aid Dependence and the Quality of Governance: Cross-Country Empirical Tests," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 68(2), pages 310-329, October.
    40. Asiedu, Elizabeth & Lien, Donald, 2011. "Democracy, foreign direct investment and natural resources," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(1), pages 99-111, May.
    41. Glen Biglaiser & Karl DeRouen, 2011. "How soon is now? The effects of the IMF on economic reforms in Latin America," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 6(2), pages 189-213, July.
    42. Mishra, Prachi & Newhouse, David, 2009. "Does health aid matter?," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 28(4), pages 855-872, July.
    43. Brautigam, Deborah A & Knack, Stephen, 2004. "Foreign Aid, Institutions, and Governance in Sub-Saharan Africa," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 52(2), pages 255-285, January.
    44. Karen L. Remmer, 2004. "Does Foreign Aid Promote the Expansion of Government?," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 48(1), pages 77-92, January.
    45. Jac C. Heckelman & Stephen Knack, 2008. "Foreign Aid and Market‐Liberalizing Reform," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 75(299), pages 524-548, August.
    46. Christopher F Baum, 2008. "Using instrumental variables techniques in economics and finance," German Stata Users' Group Meetings 2008 00, Stata Users Group.
    47. Axel Dreher, 2005. "Does the IMF Influence Fiscal and Monetary Policy?," Journal of Economic Policy Reform, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 8(3), pages 225-238.
    48. Nabamita Dutta & Peter T. Leeson & Claudia R. Williamson, 2013. "The Amplification Effect: Foreign Aid's Impact on Political Institutions," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 66(2), pages 208-228, May.
    49. Calì, Massimiliano & te Velde, Dirk Willem, 2011. "Does Aid for Trade Really Improve Trade Performance?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 39(5), pages 725-740, May.
    50. Bumba Mukherjee & David Andrew Singer, 2010. "International Institutions and Domestic Compensation: The IMF and the Politics of Capital Account Liberalization," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 54(1), pages 45-60, January.
    51. Jac C. Heckelman & Stephen Knack, 2009. "Aid, Economic Freedom, And Growth," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 27(1), pages 46-53, January.
    52. Samuel Bazzi & Michael A. Clemens, 2013. "Blunt Instruments: Avoiding Common Pitfalls in Identifying the Causes of Economic Growth," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 5(2), pages 152-186, April.
    53. Breitwieser, Anja & Wick, Katharina, 2016. "What We Miss By Missing Data: Aid Effectiveness Revisited," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 554-571.
    54. Manuel Arellano & Stephen Bond, 1991. "Some Tests of Specification for Panel Data: Monte Carlo Evidence and an Application to Employment Equations," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 58(2), pages 277-297.
    55. Duch, Raymond M., 2001. "A Developmental Model of Heterogeneous Economic Voting in New Democracies," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 95(4), pages 895-910, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Dutta, Nabamita & Sobel, Russell S., 2018. "Entrepreneurship and human capital: The role of financial development," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 319-332.
    2. Jamie Bologna Pavlik & Benjamin Powell & Andrew T. Young, 2022. "Does aid cause changes in economic freedom?," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 89(1), pages 90-111, July.
    3. Pradhan, Rudra P. & Arvin, Mak B. & Nair, Mahendhiran S. & Bennett, Sara E., 2023. "Does foreign aid affect innovation and institutional quality in middle-income countries?," Evaluation and Program Planning, Elsevier, vol. 100(C).
    4. Gautam, Durga P., 2021. "Does international migration impact economic institutions at home?," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    5. Dzhumashev, Ratbek & Hailemariam, Abebe, 2021. "Foreign aid and the quality of economic institutions," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    6. Miraj ul Haq & Nuzhat Shamim & Muhammad Luqman, 2020. "Foreign Aid, Political Institutions and Economic Freedom: Empirical Evidence from Selected Developing Countries," Lahore Journal of Economics, Department of Economics, The Lahore School of Economics, vol. 25(1), pages 153-178, Jan-June.
    7. Anand Sharma & Vipin Sharma & Shekhar Tokas, 2022. "Institutional quality and health outcomes: evidence from the EU countries," Economics and Business Letters, Oviedo University Press, vol. 11(2), pages 70-78.
    8. Dutta, Nabamita & Maus, Haley, 2021. "Share Of Women in Parliament and Health and Education Outcomes," Journal of Economic Development, The Economic Research Institute, Chung-Ang University, vol. 46(3), pages 87-110, September.
    9. Justin Callais & Andrew T. Young, 2021. "Does constitutional entrenchment matter for economic freedom?," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 39(4), pages 808-830, October.
    10. Robert A. Lawson & Ryan Murphy & Benjamin Powell, 2020. "The Determinants Of Economic Freedom: A Survey," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 38(4), pages 622-642, October.
    11. Saha, Shrabani & Beladi, Hamid & Kar, Saibal, 2021. "Corruption control, shadow economy and income inequality: Evidence from Asia," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 45(2).
    12. Sulin Sardoschau & Alexandra Jarotschkin, 2023. "Chinese Aid in Africa: Attitudes and Conflict," Rationality and Competition Discussion Paper Series 451, CRC TRR 190 Rationality and Competition.
    13. Heckelman, Jac C & Wilson, Bonnie, 2023. "Aid, Reform, and Interest Groups," MPRA Paper 118182, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    14. Sardoschau, Sulin & Jarotschkin, Alexandra, 2024. "Chinese aid in Africa: Attitudes and conflict," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    15. Dreher, Axel & Lang, Valentin & Reinsberg, Bernhard, 2024. "Aid effectiveness and donor motives," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 176(C).
    16. Ryan H. Murphy, 2023. "Stefon Dercon: Gambling on development: Why some countries win and others lose. London: Hurst, 2022. 398 pages. USD $34.95 (hardback)," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 196(1), pages 217-222, July.
    17. Adam, Antonis & Tsarsitalidou, Sofia, 2022. "The effect of international development association's (IDA) aid on conflict. A fuzzy regression discontinuity approach," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    18. Arif, Imran & Hall, Joshua C., 2019. "International flows of people and institutional change," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 276-288.
    19. Pradhan, Rudra P. & Bennett, Sara E. & Nair, Mahendhiran S. & Arvin, Mak B., 2023. "Does foreign aid procurement in resource-rich countries depend on these countries’ financial development and institutional quality? Evidence from PVECM and quantile-on-quantile regression," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    20. Dutta, Nabamita & Jana, Dipparna & Kar, Saibal, 2020. "Does state-level per capita income affect juvenile delinquency? An empirical analysis for Indian states," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 109-120.

    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. Nabamita Dutta & Russell S. Sobel & Sanjukta Roy, 2016. "Foreign aid’s impact on domestic business climates," Journal of Entrepreneurship and Public Policy, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 5(3), pages 365-382, November.
    2. Axel Dreher & Vera Eichenauer & Kai Gehring & Vera Z. Eichenauer, 2013. "Geopolitics, Aid and Growth," CESifo Working Paper Series 4299, CESifo.
    3. Dzhumashev, Ratbek & Hailemariam, Abebe, 2021. "Foreign aid and the quality of economic institutions," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    4. Axel Dreher & Valentin F. Lang & Sebastian Ziaja, 2017. "Foreign Aid in Areas of Limited Statehood," CESifo Working Paper Series 6340, CESifo.
    5. Miraj ul Haq & Nuzhat Shamim & Muhammad Luqman, 2020. "Foreign Aid, Political Institutions and Economic Freedom: Empirical Evidence from Selected Developing Countries," Lahore Journal of Economics, Department of Economics, The Lahore School of Economics, vol. 25(1), pages 153-178, Jan-June.
    6. Nabamita Dutta & Peter T. Leeson & Claudia R. Williamson, 2013. "The Amplification Effect: Foreign Aid's Impact on Political Institutions," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 66(2), pages 208-228, May.
    7. Askarov, Zohid & Doucouliagos, Hristos, 2015. "Aid and institutions in transition economies," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 55-70.
    8. Dreher, Axel & Lang, Valentin & Reinsberg, Bernhard, 2024. "Aid effectiveness and donor motives," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 176(C).
    9. Dutta, Nabamita & Roy, Sanjukta, 2016. "The interactive impact of press freedom and media reach on corruption," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 227-236.
    10. Dijkstra, Geske, 2018. "Aid and good governance: Examining aggregate unintended effects of aid," Evaluation and Program Planning, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 225-232.
    11. Samuel Brazys & Krishna Chaitanya Vadlamannati, 2021. "Aid curse with Chinese characteristics? Chinese development flows and economic reforms," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 188(3), pages 407-430, September.
    12. Lodewijk Smets & Stephen Knack, 2018. "World Bank Policy Lending and the Quality of Public-Sector Governance," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 67(1), pages 29-54.
    13. Jones, Sam & Tarp, Finn, 2016. "Does foreign aid harm political institutions?," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 266-281.
    14. Jones, Sam & Tarp, Finn, 2016. "Does foreign aid harm political institutions?," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 266-281.
    15. Mukherjee, Deepraj & Dutta, Nabamita, 2018. "What determines governance across nations: Do economic and social globalization play a role?," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 103-113.
    16. Matthias Busse & Ruth Hoekstra & Robert Darko Osei, 2017. "The Effectiveness of aid in Improving Regulations: An Empirical Assessment," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 85(3), pages 368-385, September.
    17. Juergen Bitzer & Erkan Goeren, 2018. "Foreign Aid and Subnational Development: A Grid Cell Analysis," Working Papers V-407-18, University of Oldenburg, Department of Economics, revised Mar 2018.
    18. Nabamita Dutta & Deepraj Mukherjee, 2018. "Can financial development enhance transparency?," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 51(4), pages 279-302, November.
    19. Altincekic, Ceren & Bearce, David H., 2014. "Why there Should be No Political Foreign Aid Curse," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 18-32.
    20. Chauvet, Lisa & Ehrhart, Hélène, 2018. "Aid and growth: evidence from firm-level data," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 461-477.

    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:poleco:v:45:y:2016:i:s:p:24-38. 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/inca/505544 .

    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.