Development Minister Characteristics and Aid Giving
Andreas Fuchs and Katharina Richert
Published in: European Journal of Political Economy 53: 186-204, July 2018.
Abstract
Over 300 government members have had the main responsibility for international development cooperation in 23 member countries of the OECD’s Development Assistance Committee since the organization started reporting detailed Official Development Assistance (ODA) data in 1967. Understanding their role in foreign aid giving is crucial since their decisions can influence aid effectiveness and thus economic development on the ground. Our study examines whether development ministers’ personal characteristics are associated with aid budgets and aid quality. To this end, we create a novel database on development ministers’ gender, political ideology, prior professional experience in development cooperation, education, and time in office over the 1967-2012 period. Results from fixed-effects panel regressions show that some of the personal characteristics of development ministers matter. Most notably, we find that more experienced ministers with respect to their time in the development office obtain larger aid budgets. Moreover, our results suggest that female ministers as well as officeholders with prior professional experience in development cooperation and a longer time in office provide higher-quality ODA.
Published article
Supplementary information
Database
Working paper ("Do Development Minister Characteristics Affect Aid Giving?" , November 2015)
Presentations at conferences and workshops
See also
Andreas Fuchs and Katharina Richert
Published in: European Journal of Political Economy 53: 186-204, July 2018.
Abstract
Over 300 government members have had the main responsibility for international development cooperation in 23 member countries of the OECD’s Development Assistance Committee since the organization started reporting detailed Official Development Assistance (ODA) data in 1967. Understanding their role in foreign aid giving is crucial since their decisions can influence aid effectiveness and thus economic development on the ground. Our study examines whether development ministers’ personal characteristics are associated with aid budgets and aid quality. To this end, we create a novel database on development ministers’ gender, political ideology, prior professional experience in development cooperation, education, and time in office over the 1967-2012 period. Results from fixed-effects panel regressions show that some of the personal characteristics of development ministers matter. Most notably, we find that more experienced ministers with respect to their time in the development office obtain larger aid budgets. Moreover, our results suggest that female ministers as well as officeholders with prior professional experience in development cooperation and a longer time in office provide higher-quality ODA.
Published article
Supplementary information
Database
Working paper ("Do Development Minister Characteristics Affect Aid Giving?" , November 2015)
Presentations at conferences and workshops
- Workshop “The Domestic Dimensions of Development Cooperation,” University of Antwerp, Belgium (10/2016)
- CSAE Conference 2016: Economic Development in Africa, University of Oxford, UK (03/2016)
- Annual Congress of the European Economic Association (EEA), University of Mannheim, Germany (08/2015)
- AWI Departmental Workshop, Heidelberg University, Germany (06/2015)
- Beyond Basic Questions Workshop, Leibniz University Hannover, Germany (06/2015)
- Annual Conference of the Verein für Socialpolitik Research Committee Development Economics, Kiel Institute for the World Economy, Germany (06/2015)
- Spring Meeting of Young Economists, Ghent University, Belgium (05/2015)
- International Conference on Globalization and Development, University of Goettingen, Germany (05/2015)
- Annual Meeting of the European Public Choice Society, University of Groningen, Netherlands (04/2015)
See also
