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“A Mile Wide and an Inch Deep”? Understanding Public Support for Aid: The Case of the United Kingdom

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  • Henson, Spencer
  • Lindstrom, Johanna

Abstract

Despite interest in public support for aid to developing countries, there has been limited academic research. This paper reports analysis of survey data for the United Kingdom that explores the factors driving support for cuts in aid spending as a case example. Dominant factors are found to be beliefs in the moral imperative to help reduce poverty in developing countries versus the prioritization of efforts to tackle poverty in the United Kingdom. Most socio-demographic factors are insignificant. The results highlight the need to examine support for aid in the context of government spending more generally.

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  • Henson, Spencer & Lindstrom, Johanna, 2013. "“A Mile Wide and an Inch Deep”? Understanding Public Support for Aid: The Case of the United Kingdom," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 67-75.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:42:y:2013:i:c:p:67-75
    DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2012.07.004
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    Cited by:

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    2. Terence Wood, 2018. "Aid Policy and Australian Public Opinion," Asia and the Pacific Policy Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 5(2), pages 235-248, May.
    3. Heinrich, Tobias & Kobayashi, Yoshiharu & Bryant, Kristin A., 2016. "Public Opinion and Foreign Aid Cuts in Economic Crises," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 66-79.
    4. Zhiming Cheng & Russell Smyth, 2016. "Why Give it Away When You Need it Yourself? Understanding Public Support for Foreign Aid in China," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 52(1), pages 53-71, January.
    5. Jens Eger & Sebastian H. Schneider & Martin Bruder & Solveig H. Gleser, 2023. "Does Evidence Matter? The Impact of Evidence Regarding Aid Effectiveness on Attitudes Towards Aid," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 35(5), pages 1149-1172, October.
    6. Yanguas, Pablo & Hulme, David, 2015. "Barriers to Political Analysis in Aid Bureaucracies: From Principle to Practice in DFID and the World Bank," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 209-219.
    7. Linda Alvarez & Constantine Boussalis & Jennifer L. Merolla & Caryn A. Peiffer, 2018. "Love thy neighbour: Social identity and public support for humanitarian aid," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 36(S2), pages 935-953, September.
    8. Mikami, Satoru, 2014. "A Single-blinded Randomized Controlled Trial to Estimate the Impact of Information to Change Japanese Attitudes towards ODA," Working Papers 84, JICA Research Institute.
    9. Schneider, Sebastian H. & Eger, Jens & Bruder, Martin & Faust, Jörg & Wieler, Lothar H., 2021. "Does the COVID-19 pandemic threaten global solidarity? Evidence from Germany," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 140(C).
    10. Thilo Bodenstein & Jörg Faust, 2017. "Who Cares? European Public Opinion on Foreign Aid and Political Conditionality," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 55(5), pages 955-973, September.
    11. Juan David Gómez-Quintero & Pilar Gargallo Valero & Jesús Miguel Álvarez, 2019. "Who Supports International Development Cooperation in Times of Crisis? Public Opinion in Rural Spain," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(7), pages 1-17, April.

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    Keywords

    aid; public opinion; support; UK;
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