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Rogue Aid? An Empirical Analysis of China's Aid Allocation
Axel Dreher and Andreas Fuchs

Published in: Canadian Journal of Economics 48(3): 988-1023, August 2015




Abstract
Foreign aid from China is often characterized as “rogue aid” that is guided by selfish interests alone. We collect data on Chinese project aid, food aid, medical staff and total aid money to developing countries, covering the 1956-2006 period, to empirically test to what extent self-interests shape China’s aid allocation. While political considerations shape China’s allocation of aid, China does not pay substantially more attention to politics compared to Western donors. What is more, China’s aid allocation seems to be widely independent of recipients’ endowment with natural resources and institutional characteristics. Overall, denoting Chinese aid as “rogue aid” seems unjustified.

Published article
Supporting information
Working paper (September 2011)
Presentations at conferences and workshops
  • China Meeting of the Econometric Society, Beijing, China (06/2013)
  • Annual Conference of the Chinese Economists Society, Chengdu, China (06/2013)
  • CSAE Conference 2013: Economic Development in Africa, University of Oxford, UK (03/2013)
  • Annual Conference of the International Political Economy Society, University of Wisconsin, Madison, USA (11/2011)
  • International Relations Graduate Seminar, Princeton University, USA (10/2011)
  • New Directions in Welfare 2011 Congress, OECD Paris, France (07/2011)
  • Beyond Basic Questions Workshop, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium (06/2011)
  • Annual Conference of the Verein für Socialpolitik Research Committee Development Economics, DIW Berlin, Germany (06/2011)
  • Workshop "The Transatlantic Community and Rising Powers in the Global Economy", Berlin, Germany (05/2011)
  • Meeting of the European Public Choice Society, Rennes, France (04/2011)
  • Spring Meeting of Young Economists, University of Groningen, Netherlands (04/2011)

In the media (newspapers, blogs)
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