IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/pal/eurjdr/v35y2023i5d10.1057_s41287-022-00570-w.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Does Evidence Matter? The Impact of Evidence Regarding Aid Effectiveness on Attitudes Towards Aid

Author

Listed:
  • Jens Eger

    (German Institute for Development Evaluation (DEval)
    Georg-August University Göttingen)

  • Sebastian H. Schneider

    (German Institute for Development Evaluation (DEval))

  • Martin Bruder

    (German Institute for Development Evaluation (DEval))

  • Solveig H. Gleser

Abstract

Development aid is considered an important instrument in achieving a more sustainable global future. However, the general public perceives aid as rather ineffective. This may be because the public knows little about aid and its effects. Evidence for the effects of aid projects may therefore be of particular importance in shaping attitudes. In a survey experiment carried out among the German population (N ≈ 6000), we presented a claim on the effectiveness of an aid project or the same claim plus experimental evidence, qualitative evidence or anecdotal evidence and compared it to a no information control group. Results revealed that the claim increases both belief in the effectiveness of aid as well as support for aid. Among all forms of evidence tested, anecdotal evidence performs best, followed by experimental evidence. Pre-manipulation support for aid partly moderates the effect of the claim, but those who support aid do not react more strongly to the two forms of scientific evidence (experimental/qualitative).

Suggested Citation

  • 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.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:eurjdr:v:35:y:2023:i:5:d:10.1057_s41287-022-00570-w
    DOI: 10.1057/s41287-022-00570-w
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1057/s41287-022-00570-w
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1057/s41287-022-00570-w?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Gilens, Martin, 2001. "Political Ignorance and Collective Policy Preferences," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 95(2), pages 379-396, June.
    2. Dreher, Axel & Fuchs, Andreas & Langlotz, Sarah, 2019. "The effects of foreign aid on refugee flows," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 127-147.
    3. Helen V. Milner & Dustin Tingley, 2013. "Public Opinion and Foreign Aid: A Review Essay," International Interactions, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(3), pages 389-401, July.
    4. Duflo, Esther & Glennerster, Rachel & Kremer, Michael, 2008. "Using Randomization in Development Economics Research: A Toolkit," Handbook of Development Economics, in: T. Paul Schultz & John A. Strauss (ed.), Handbook of Development Economics, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 61, pages 3895-3962, Elsevier.
    5. Howard White, 2013. "An introduction to the use of randomised control trials to evaluate development interventions," Journal of Development Effectiveness, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 5(1), pages 30-49, March.
    6. Hristos Doucouliagos & Martin Paldam, 2009. "The Aid Effectiveness Literature: The Sad Results Of 40 Years Of Research," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 23(3), pages 433-461, July.
    7. Charles S. Taber & Milton Lodge, 2006. "Motivated Skepticism in the Evaluation of Political Beliefs," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 50(3), pages 755-769, July.
    8. Henrik Hansen & Finn Tarp, 2000. "Aid effectiveness disputed," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 12(3), pages 375-398, April.
    9. Chong, Alberto & Gradstein, Mark, 2008. "What determines foreign aid? The donors' perspective," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(1), pages 1-13, August.
    10. Terence Wood, 2019. "Can Information Change Public Support for Aid?," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 55(10), pages 2162-2176, October.
    11. Scotto, Thomas J. & Reifler, Jason & Hudson, David & vanHeerde-Hudson, Jennifer, 2017. "We Spend How Much? Misperceptions, Innumeracy, and Support for the Foreign Aid in the United States and Great Britain," Journal of Experimental Political Science, Cambridge University Press, vol. 4(2), pages 119-128, July.
    12. Eunju Kim & KyungWoo Kim, 2022. "Public perception of foreign aid in South Korea: The effects of policy efficacy in an emerging donor," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 40(3), May.
    13. Guess, Andrew & Coppock, Alexander, 2020. "Does Counter-Attitudinal Information Cause Backlash? Results from Three Large Survey Experiments – CORRIGENDUM," British Journal of Political Science, Cambridge University Press, vol. 50(4), pages 1517-1517, October.
    14. Abhijit V. Banerjee & Esther Duflo, 2009. "The Experimental Approach to Development Economics," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 1(1), pages 151-178, May.
    15. Gamso, Jonas & Yuldashev, Farhod, 2018. "Does rural development aid reduce international migration?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 268-282.
    16. Heinrich, Tobias & Kobayashi, Yoshiharu, 2020. "How Do People Evaluate Foreign Aid To ‘Nasty’ Regimes?," British Journal of Political Science, Cambridge University Press, vol. 50(1), pages 103-127, January.
    17. Dietrich, Simone & Hyde, Susan D. & Winters, Matthew S., 2019. "Overseas Credit Claiming and Domestic Support for Foreign Aid," Journal of Experimental Political Science, Cambridge University Press, vol. 6(3), pages 159-170, December.
    18. Clifford, Scott & Sheagley, Geoffrey & Piston, Spencer, 2021. "Increasing Precision without Altering Treatment Effects: Repeated Measures Designs in Survey Experiments," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 115(3), pages 1048-1065, August.
    19. Osman Sabri Kiratli, 2021. "Politicization of Aiding Others: The Impact of Migration on European Public Opinion of Development Aid," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 59(1), pages 53-71, January.
    20. 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.
    21. Miratrix, Luke W. & Sekhon, Jasjeet S. & Theodoridis, Alexander G. & Campos, Luis F., 2018. "Worth Weighting? How to Think About and Use Weights in Survey Experiments," Political Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 26(3), pages 275-291, July.
    22. Eger, Jens & Kaplan, Lennart & Sternberg, Henrike, 2022. "How to reduce vaccination hesitancy? The relevance of evidence and its communicator," University of Göttingen Working Papers in Economics 433, University of Goettingen, Department of Economics.
    23. David Hudson & N. Susan Laehn & Niheer Dasandi & Jennifer vanHeerde‐Hudson, 2019. "Making and Unmaking Cosmopolitans: An Experimental Test of the Mediating Role of Emotions in International Development Appeals," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 100(3), pages 544-564, May.
    24. Baker, Andy, 2015. "Race, Paternalism, and Foreign Aid: Evidence from U.S. Public Opinion," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 109(1), pages 93-109, February.
    25. Nandita Dogra, 2007. "'Reading NGOs visually'-Implications of visual images for NGO management," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 19(2), pages 161-171.
    26. Lanati, Mauro & Thiele, Rainer, 2018. "The impact of foreign aid on migration revisited," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 59-74.
    27. Ratneshwar, S & Chaiken, Shelly, 1991. "Comprehension's Role in Persuasion: The Case of Its Moderating Effect on the Persuasive Impact of," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 18(1), pages 52-62, June.
    28. 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.
    29. Guess, Andrew & Coppock, Alexander, 2020. "Does Counter-Attitudinal Information Cause Backlash? Results from Three Large Survey Experiments," British Journal of Political Science, Cambridge University Press, vol. 50(4), pages 1497-1515, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Kobayashi, Yoshiharu & Heinrich, Tobias & Bryant, Kristin A., 2021. "Public support for development aid during the COVID-19 pandemic," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    2. Lukas Wellner & Axel Dreher & Andreas Fuchs & Bradley C. Parks & Austin M. Strange, 2022. "Can Aid Buy Foreign Public Support? Evidence from Chinese Development Finance," CESifo Working Paper Series 9646, CESifo.
    3. 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).
    4. Dreher, Axel & Lang, Valentin & Reinsberg, Bernhard, 2024. "Aid effectiveness and donor motives," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 176(C).
    5. Patrick Guillaumont, 2011. "Aid effectiveness for poverty reduction:macroeconomic overview and emerging issues," CERDI Working papers halshs-00554285, HAL.
    6. 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.
    7. Mauro Lanati & Rainer Thiele, 2021. "Aid for health, economic growth, and the emigration of medical workers," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 33(7), pages 1112-1140, October.
    8. Angelika J. Budjan & Andreas Fuchs, 2021. "Democracy and Aid Donorship," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 13(4), pages 217-238, November.
    9. Temple, Jonathan R.W., 2010. "Aid and Conditionality," Handbook of Development Economics, in: Dani Rodrik & Mark Rosenzweig (ed.), Handbook of Development Economics, edition 1, volume 5, chapter 0, pages 4415-4523, Elsevier.
    10. Jordi Ripollés & Inmaculada Martínez-Zarzoso, 2021. "African Asylum Seekers in Europe: The Interplay between Foreign Aid and Governance in Origin Countries," Open Economies Review, Springer, vol. 32(5), pages 829-865, November.
    11. Paul Clist & Gabriele Restelli, 2021. "Development aid and international migration to Italy: Does aid reduce irregular flows?," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(5), pages 1281-1311, May.
    12. Patrick GUILLAUMONT, 2009. "Aid effectiveness for poverty reduction: macroeconomic overview and emerging issues," Working Papers P05, FERDI.
    13. Mauro Lanati & Rainer Thiele, 2020. "Foreign assistance and emigration: Accounting for the role of non‐transferred aid," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(7), pages 1951-1976, July.
    14. Ben M. Tappin & Adam J. Berinsky & David G. Rand, 2023. "Partisans’ receptivity to persuasive messaging is undiminished by countervailing party leader cues," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 7(4), pages 568-582, April.
    15. 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.
    16. Byunghwan Son, 2024. "Foreign pop-culture and backlash: the case of non-fan K-pop Subreddits during the pandemic," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer;The Association for Cultural Economics International, vol. 48(1), pages 117-143, March.
    17. Terence Wood, 2018. "Aid Policy and Australian Public Opinion," Asia and the Pacific Policy Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 5(2), pages 235-248, May.
    18. Fuchs, Andreas & Gröger, André & Heidland, Tobias & Wellner, Lukas, 2023. "The effect of foreign aid on migration: Global micro evidence from world bank projects," Kiel Working Papers 2257, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    19. Eunju Kim & KyungWoo Kim, 2022. "Public perception of foreign aid in South Korea: The effects of policy efficacy in an emerging donor," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 40(3), May.
    20. Christine Hackenesch & Maximilian Högl & Hannes Öhler & Aline Burni, 2022. "Populist Radical Right Parties' Impact on European Foreign Aid Spending," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 60(5), pages 1391-1415, September.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:pal:eurjdr:v:35:y:2023:i:5:d:10.1057_s41287-022-00570-w. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.palgrave-journals.com/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.