Individual and Country-Level Factors Affecting Support for Foreign Aid

Individual and Country-Level Factors Affecting Support for Foreign Aid

In recent years donor countries have committed to dramatic increases in the supply of foreign aid to developing countries. Meeting and sustaining such commitments will require sufficient support among donor country voters and taxpayers. The determinants of public opinion in donor countries on foreign aid have received little attention. This paper examines attitudes to foreign aid with a large, multi-level, cross-national study. It outlines a theoretical rationale for support for foreign aid, discussing the importance of both individual factors and economic and social structures. The theory is tested with multi-level models, including both individual-level and country-level variables to predict positive attitudes. Two datasets are used to measure attitudes in donor countries: (1) the 1995 World Values Survey has information from approximately 6,000 individuals in nine countries and asks a rich battery of questions at the individual-level, and (2) the 2002 Gallup "Voice of the People" survey asks fewer questions of individuals but includes 17 donor countries. Using both surveys combines their distinct strengths and allows tests of individual and national-level theories across disparate samples. The results generally support the predictions that attitudes toward aid are influenced by religiosity, beliefs about the causes of poverty, awareness of international affairs, and trust in people and institutions.

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Paxton, Pamela, Knack, Stephen
Language:English
Published: World Bank, Washington, DC 2008-09
Subjects:ADVOCACY GROUPS, AID AGENCIES, AID POLICIES, AID RECIPIENTS, ALLIANCES, ARMED FORCES, BOUNDARIES, CHARITIES, CONFLICT, CONFLICT RESOLUTION, CRISES, DEVELOPED COUNTRIES, DEVELOPMENT AID, DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE, DEVELOPMENT BANKS, DEVELOPMENT GOALS, DEVELOPMENT ISSUES, DEVELOPMENT OBJECTIVES, DEVELOPMENT RESEARCH, DOMESTIC POLICIES, DONOR COUNTRIES, DONOR COUNTRY, ECONOMIC AID, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, ECONOMIC GROWTH, ECONOMIC ISSUES, EFFECTIVENESS OF AID, EXPORTS, FEMALE, FOREIGN AID, FOREIGN ASSISTANCE, FOREIGN INVESTMENT, FOREIGN POLICIES, FOREIGN POLICY, FOREIGNERS, FOUNDATIONS, GENDER, GENDER DIFFERENCES, GENDERS, INCLUSION, INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS, INTERNATIONAL BANK, INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT, INTERNATIONAL DONORS, INTERNATIONALISM, ISOLATIONISM, MEETING, MILITARY AID, MOVEMENT, MULTILATERAL AGENCIES, MULTILATERAL AID, MULTILATERAL INSTITUTIONS, NATIONS, OFFICIAL DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE, PUBLIC POLICIES, PUBLIC POLICY, RECIPIENT COUNTRIES, RECIPIENT COUNTRY, RECONSTRUCTION, REFUGEES, SOCIETY, TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE, WAR, WOMAN, WORLD DEVELOPMENT, WORLD DEVELOPMENT INDICATORS, WORTH,
Online Access:http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2008/09/9829102/individual-country-level-factors-affecting-support-foreign-aid
https://hdl.handle.net/10986/6984
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Summary:In recent years donor countries have committed to dramatic increases in the supply of foreign aid to developing countries. Meeting and sustaining such commitments will require sufficient support among donor country voters and taxpayers. The determinants of public opinion in donor countries on foreign aid have received little attention. This paper examines attitudes to foreign aid with a large, multi-level, cross-national study. It outlines a theoretical rationale for support for foreign aid, discussing the importance of both individual factors and economic and social structures. The theory is tested with multi-level models, including both individual-level and country-level variables to predict positive attitudes. Two datasets are used to measure attitudes in donor countries: (1) the 1995 World Values Survey has information from approximately 6,000 individuals in nine countries and asks a rich battery of questions at the individual-level, and (2) the 2002 Gallup "Voice of the People" survey asks fewer questions of individuals but includes 17 donor countries. Using both surveys combines their distinct strengths and allows tests of individual and national-level theories across disparate samples. The results generally support the predictions that attitudes toward aid are influenced by religiosity, beliefs about the causes of poverty, awareness of international affairs, and trust in people and institutions.

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