Do Development Minister Characteristics Affect Aid Giving?

University of Heidelberg Department of Economics Discussion Paper Series No. 604

46 Pages Posted: 12 Nov 2015

See all articles by Andreas Fuchs

Andreas Fuchs

Kiel Institute for the World Economy; University of Goettingen (Göttingen) - Faculty of Economics and Business Administration

Katharina Richert

University of Heidelberg - Alfred Weber Institute for Economics

Date Written: November 1, 2015

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 might directly impact aid effectiveness and thus economic development on the ground. Our study examines whether development ministers’ personal characteristics influence 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 in economics, 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 office obtain larger aid budgets. Moreover, there is evidence that female ministers as well as officeholders with prior professional experience in development cooperation and a longer time in office provide higher-quality ODA.

Keywords: development minister, leadership, foreign aid, Official Development Assistance, aid budget, aid quality, personal characteristics, gender, partisan politics, experience

JEL Classification: D78, F35, H11, O19

Suggested Citation

Fuchs, Andreas and Fuchs, Andreas and Richert, Katharina, Do Development Minister Characteristics Affect Aid Giving? (November 1, 2015). University of Heidelberg Department of Economics Discussion Paper Series No. 604, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2688954 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2688954

Andreas Fuchs

Kiel Institute for the World Economy ( email )

Kiellinie 66
Kiel, Schleswig-Hosltein 24105
Germany

University of Goettingen (Göttingen) - Faculty of Economics and Business Administration ( email )

Platz der Goettinger Sieben 3
Goettingen, 37073
Germany

Katharina Richert (Contact Author)

University of Heidelberg - Alfred Weber Institute for Economics ( email )

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
157
Abstract Views
1,337
Rank
338,301
PlumX Metrics