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The Politics of Private Foreign Aid: Humanitarian Principles, Economic Development Objectives, and Organizational Interests in NGO Private Aid Allocation

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  • Büthe, Tim
  • Major, Solomon
  • Souza, André de Mello e

Abstract

A large and increasing share of international humanitarian and development aid is raised from nongovernmental sources, allocated by transnational NGOs. We know little about this private foreign aid, not even how it is distributed across recipient countries, much less what explains the allocation. This article presents an original data set, based on detailed financial records from most of the major U.S.-based humanitarian and development NGOs, which allows us for the first time to map and analyze the allocation of U.S. private aid. We find no support for the common claim that aid NGOs systematically prioritize their organizational self-interest when they allocate private aid, and we find only limited support for the hypothesis that expected aid effectiveness drives aid allocation. By contrast, we find strong support for the argument that the deeply rooted humanitarian discourse within and among aid NGOs drives their aid allocation, consistent with a view of aid NGOs as principled actors and constructivist theories of international relations. Recipients' humanitarian need is substantively and statistically the most significant determinant of U.S. private aid allocation (beyond a regional effect in favor of Latin American countries). Materialist concerns do not crowd out ethical norms among these NGOs.

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  • Büthe, Tim & Major, Solomon & Souza, André de Mello e, 2012. "The Politics of Private Foreign Aid: Humanitarian Principles, Economic Development Objectives, and Organizational Interests in NGO Private Aid Allocation," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 66(4), pages 571-607, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:intorg:v:66:y:2012:i:04:p:571-607_00
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    Cited by:

    1. Qian, Nancy & Deserranno, Erika, 2020. "Aid Crowd-Out: The Effect of NGOs on Government-Provided Public Services," CEPR Discussion Papers 14755, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    2. Eric Van Steenburg & Nwamaka A. Anaza & Ahmed Ashhar & Andres Barrios & Ashley R. Deutsch & Meryl P. Gardner & Preeti Priya & Abhijit Roy & Anu Sivaraman & Kimberly A. Taylor, 2022. "The new world of philanthropy: How changing financial behavior, public policies, and COVID‐19 affect nonprofit fundraising and marketing," Journal of Consumer Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 56(3), pages 1079-1105, September.
    3. Erika Deserranno & Aisha Nansamba & Nancy Qian, 2020. "The Unintended Consequences of NGO-Provided Aid on Government Services in Uganda," NBER Working Papers 26928, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Youngwan Kim & Peter Nunnenkamp, 2015. "Does It Pay for US-based NGOs to Go to War? Empirical Evidence for Afghanistan and Iraq," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 46(3), pages 387-414, May.
    5. Le Fanu, Guy, 2014. "International development, disability, and education: Towards a capabilities-focused discourse and praxis," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 69-79.
    6. Andreas Fuchs & Hannes Öhler, 2021. "Does private aid follow the flag? An empirical analysis of humanitarian assistance," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(3), pages 671-705, March.
    7. Menard, Audrey-Rose & Weill, Laurent, 2016. "Understanding the link between aid and corruption: A causality analysis," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 40(2), pages 260-272.
    8. Fuchs, Andreas & Dreher, Axel & Nunnenkamp, Peter, 2014. "Determinants of Donor Generosity: A Survey of the Aid Budget Literature," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 172-199.
    9. Büthe, Tim & Morgan, Stephen, 2015. "Antitrust Enforcement and Foreign Competition: Special Interest Theory Reconsidered," 2015 AAEA & WAEA Joint Annual Meeting, July 26-28, San Francisco, California 205607, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    10. Christopher J. Fariss & Therese Anders & Jonathan N. Markowitz & Miriam Barnum, 2022. "New Estimates of Over 500 Years of Historic GDP and Population Data," Journal of Conflict Resolution, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 66(3), pages 553-591, April.
    11. Banks, Nicola & Hulme, David & Edwards, Michael, 2015. "NGOs, States, and Donors Revisited: Still Too Close for Comfort?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 707-718.
    12. Ziff, Alix, 2023. "Aid accessibility: Equity & education in Kenya," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    13. Baldwin, Kate & Karlan, Dean & Udry, Christopher & Appiah, Ernest, 2023. "How political insiders lose out when international aid underperforms: Evidence from a participatory development experiment in Ghana," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 169(C).
    14. Iliana Olivié & Aitor Pérez, 2016. "Why don’t donor countries coordinate their aid? A case study of European donors in Morocco," Progress in Development Studies, , vol. 16(1), pages 52-64, January.
    15. Moritz Schmoll, 2022. "Training for the Industry: Examining the Use of Real-life Consultancy Projects in Development Studies Programmes," Progress in Development Studies, , vol. 22(3), pages 272-287, July.
    16. John‐Michael Davis & Liam Swiss, 2020. "Need, Merit, Self‐Interest or Convenience? Exploring Aid Allocation Motives of Grassroots International NGOs," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(8), pages 1324-1345, November.
    17. Gallemore, Caleb & Jespersen, Kristjan, 2016. "Transnational Markets for Sustainable Development Governance: The Case of REDD+," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 79-94.
    18. Andrea L. Everett, 2016. "Post-Cold War complex humanitarian emergencies: Introducing a new dataset," Conflict Management and Peace Science, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 33(3), pages 311-339, July.

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