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Foreign Aid as a Signal to Investors

Author

Listed:
  • Ana Carolina Garriga

    (División de Estudios Políticos, Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas (CIDE), Mexico City, Mexico)

  • Brian J. Phillips

    (División de Estudios Internacionales, Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas (CIDE), Mexico City, Mexico)

Abstract

Does development aid attract foreign direct investment (FDI) in post-conflict countries? This article contributes to the growing literature on effects of aid and on determinants of FDI by explaining how development aid in low-information environments is a signal that can attract investment. Before investing abroad, firms seek data on potential host countries. In post-conflict countries, reliable information is poor, in part because governments face unusual incentives to misrepresent information. In these conditions, firms look to signals. One is development aid, because donors tend to give more to countries they trust to properly handle the funds. Our results show that aid seems to draw FDI—however, this is conditional on whether the aid can be considered geostrategically motivated. We also show that this effect decreases as time elapses after the conflict. This suggests that aid’s signaling effect is specific to low-information environments, and helps rule out alternative causal mechanisms linking aid and FDI.

Suggested Citation

  • Ana Carolina Garriga & Brian J. Phillips, 2014. "Foreign Aid as a Signal to Investors," Journal of Conflict Resolution, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 58(2), pages 280-306, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:jocore:v:58:y:2014:i:2:p:280-306
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Liao, Hongwei & Chi, Yedi & Zhang, Jiarui, 2020. "Impact of international development aid on FDI along the Belt and Road," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    2. Takaaki Masaki & Bradley C. Parks, 2020. "When do performance assessments influence policy behavior? Micro-evidence from the 2014 Reform Efforts Survey," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 15(2), pages 371-408, April.
    3. International Monetary Fund [IMF], 2018. "World Economic Outlook, April 2018: Cyclical Upswing, Structural Change," Working Papers id:12768, eSocialSciences.
    4. Julian Donaubauer & Dierk Herzer & Peter Nunnenkamp, 2019. "The Effectiveness of Aid under Post-Conflict Conditions: A Sector-Specific Analysis," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 55(4), pages 720-736, April.
    5. Brian J. Phillips, 2015. "Civil war, spillover and neighbors’ military spending," Conflict Management and Peace Science, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 32(4), pages 425-442, September.
    6. Robert J. Moore, 2021. "Emerging from war: Public policy and patterns of foreign direct investment recovery in postwar environments," Journal of International Business Policy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 4(4), pages 455-475, December.
    7. Trey Billing & Andrew D. Lugg, 2019. "Conflicted Capital: The Effect of Civil Conflict on Patterns of BIT Signing," Journal of Conflict Resolution, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 63(2), pages 373-404, February.
    8. Olufemi Adewale Aluko, 2020. "The foreign aid–foreign direct investment relationship in Africa: The mediating role of institutional quality and financial development," Economic Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(1), pages 77-84, February.
    9. Theodora-Ismene Gizelis & Xun Cao, 2021. "A security dividend: Peacekeeping and maternal health outcomes and access," Journal of Peace Research, Peace Research Institute Oslo, vol. 58(2), pages 263-278, March.
    10. Dong, Yan & Fan, Cijun, 2017. "The effects of China's aid and trade on its ODI in African countries," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 1-18.
    11. Madhav Joshi & Jason Michael Quinn, 2020. "Civil war termination and foreign direct investment, 1989–2012," Conflict Management and Peace Science, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 37(4), pages 451-470, July.

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