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Chinese aid and health at the country and local level

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  • Cruzatti C., John
  • Dreher, Axel
  • Matzat, Johannes

Abstract

We investigate whether and to what extent Chinese development finance affects infant mortality, combining 92 demographic and health surveys (DHS) for a maximum of 53 countries and almost 55,000 sub-national locations over the 2002–2014 period. Our results show that Chinese aid decreases infant mortality at the country level. Relative to the country average, aid however increases infant mortality at sub-national scales. In several tests, we show that this stark contrast likely results from aid being fungible within recipient countries.

Suggested Citation

  • Cruzatti C., John & Dreher, Axel & Matzat, Johannes, 2023. "Chinese aid and health at the country and local level," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 167(C).
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:167:y:2023:i:c:s0305750x23000323
    DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2023.106214
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    Cited by:

    1. Cruzatti C., John, 2021. "Free Trade Agreements and Development: a Global Analysis with Local Data," Working Papers 0702, University of Heidelberg, Department of Economics.
    2. Samuel Brazys & Krishna Chaitanya Vadlamannati, 2021. "Aid curse with Chinese characteristics? Chinese development flows and economic reforms," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 188(3), pages 407-430, September.
    3. Iacoella, Francesco & Martorano, Bruno & Metzger, Laura & Sanfilippo, Marco, 2021. "Chinese official finance and political participation in Africa," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 136(C).
    4. Valentin Lindlacher & Gustav Pirich, 2024. "The Impact of China’s “Stadium Diplomacy” on Local Economic Development in Sub-Saharan Africa," CESifo Working Paper Series 10893, CESifo.
    5. Liya Palagashvili & Claudia R. Williamson, 2021. "Grading foreign aid agencies: Best practices across traditional and emerging donors," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(2), pages 654-676, May.
    6. Bai, Yu & Li, Yanjun & Wang, Yunuo, 2022. "Chinese aid and local political attitudes," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 113(C).
    7. Philip Akrofi Atitianti, 2023. "The impact of Chinese aid on political trust," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 35(2), pages 233-259, March.
    8. Dreher, Axel & Fuchs, Andreas & Hodler, Roland & Parks, Bradley C. & Raschky, Paul A. & Tierney, Michael J., 2021. "Is Favoritism a Threat to Chinese Aid Effectiveness? A Subnational Analysis of Chinese Development Projects," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).
    9. Silvia Marchesi & Tania Masi & Saumik Paul, 2021. "Project Aid and Firm Performance," Working Papers 479, University of Milano-Bicocca, Department of Economics, revised Sep 2021.
    10. Philip Akrofi Atitianti & Samuel Kofi Asiamah & Benedict Arthur & John Archison Duku, 2024. "Does Aid Improve Local Wealth? Micro‐Level Evidence from Africa," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 36(5), pages 2372-2392, July.
    11. Michael Appiah‐Kubi & Jeneshia Jarrett, 2023. "Chinese aid and crime: Evidence from Africa," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 35(7), pages 1619-1647, October.
    12. Lisa Chauvet & Marin Ferry, 2023. "L’efficacité de l’aide : quelles évolutions de la littérature depuis deux décennies ? WP329," Working Papers hal-04141543, HAL.
    13. Wellner, Lukas & Dreher, Axel & Fuchs, Andreas & Parks, Bradley & Strange, Austin M., 2022. "Can aid buy foreign public support? Evidence from Chinese development finance," Kiel Working Papers 2214, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    14. Mandon, Pierre & Woldemichael, Martha Tesfaye, 2023. "Has Chinese aid benefited recipient countries? Evidence from a meta-regression analysis," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 166(C).
    15. Dreher, Axel & Lang, Valentin & Reinsberg, Bernhard, 2024. "Aid effectiveness and donor motives," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 176(C).
    16. Cruzatti C., John & Rieger, Matthias, 2024. "Shaken, Not Stunted? Global Evidence on Natural Disasters, Child Growth and Recovery," IZA Discussion Papers 17372, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    17. Luo, Changyuan & Song, Hong & Zhao, Yi, 2024. "Chinese aid and country image: Average and heterogeneous patterns," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    18. Christopher Kilby, 2020. "Accounting for data uncertainty: Biases in web-scraped Chinese aid data," Villanova School of Business Department of Economics and Statistics Working Paper Series 45, Villanova School of Business Department of Economics and Statistics.
    19. Tritto, Angela & Haini, Hazwan & Wu, Hongsen, 2024. "Help with strings attached? China’s medical assistance and political allegiances during the Covid-19 pandemic," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 178(C).
    20. Li, Jia, 2024. "Less stunted? The impact of Chinese health aid on child nutrition," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 342(C).
    21. Heinzel, Mirko & Reinsberg, Bernhard, 2024. "Trust funds and the sub-national effectiveness of development aid: Evidence from the World Bank," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 179(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Health aid; Fungibility; Infant mortality;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I15 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health and Economic Development
    • F35 - International Economics - - International Finance - - - Foreign Aid

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