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Developing countries in need: Which characteristics appeal most to people when donating money?

Author

Listed:
  • Paul Hansen

    (Department of Economics, University of Otago, New Zealand)

  • Nicole Kergozou

    (Reserve Bank of New Zealand)

  • Stephen Knowles

    (Department of Economics, University of Otago, New Zealand)

  • Paul Thorsnes

    (Department of Economics, University of Otago, New Zealand)

Abstract

A discrete choice experiment was conducted to discover the relative importance of five characteristics of developing countries, as suggested by the literature, considered by people when choosing countries to donate money to. The experiment was administered via an online survey involving almost 700 student participants (potential donors) from a New Zealand university. The most important recipient-country characteristic for participants on average is hunger and malnutrition (a weight of 0.29), followed by child mortality (0.24), quality of infrastructure (0.21), income per capita (0.18), and, least importantly, ties to New Zealand (0.09). A cluster analysis of participants' individual `part-worth utilities' representing the relative importance of the country characteristics reveals they are not strongly correlated with participants' demographic characteristics. Our findings overall indicate that to maximise the donations they receive, non-governmental aid organisations are better to focus their marketing efforts on emphasising country characteristics associated with hunger, malnutrition and child mortality than other things.

Suggested Citation

  • Paul Hansen & Nicole Kergozou & Stephen Knowles & Paul Thorsnes, 2013. "Developing countries in need: Which characteristics appeal most to people when donating money?," Working Papers 1312, University of Otago, Department of Economics, revised Sep 2013.
    • Handle: RePEc:otg:wpaper:1312
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    File URL: http://www.otago.ac.nz/economics/research/otago076647.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Bachke, Maren Elise & Alfnes, Frode & Wik, Mette, 2017. "Information and donations to development aid projects," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 23-28.
    2. Madsen, Jakob B., 2016. "Barriers to Prosperity: Parasitic and Infectious Diseases, IQ, and Economic Development," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 172-187.
    3. Simon Feeny & Paul Hansen & Stephen Knowles & Mark McGillivray & Franz Ombler, 2019. "Donor motives, public preferences and the allocation of UK foreign aid: a discrete choice experiment approach," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 155(3), pages 511-537, August.
    4. Edwin Muchapondwa & Samson Mukanjari, 2014. "Understanding Chinese and Western Development Finance in Uganda, South Africa, and Zimbabwe," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2014-087, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    5. Muchapondwa, Edwin & Mukanjari, Samson, 2014. "Understanding Chinese and Western development finance in Uganda, South Africa, and Zimbabwe," WIDER Working Paper Series 087, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    6. Roel Wijland & Paul Hansen & Fatima Gardezi, 2016. "Mobile nudging: Youth engagement with banking apps," Journal of Financial Services Marketing, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 21(1), pages 51-63, March.
    7. Mark McGillivray & Simon Feeny & Paul Hansen & Stephen Knowles & Franz Ombler, 2023. "What are Valid Weights for the Human Development Index? A Discrete Choice Experiment for the United Kingdom," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 165(2), pages 679-694, January.
    8. Hennessy, Jack & Mortimer, Duncan & Sweeney, Rohan & Woode, Maame Esi, 2023. "Donor versus recipient preferences for aid allocation: A systematic review of stated-preference studies," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 334(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    foreign aid; charitable giving; discrete choice experiment; conjoint analysis; PAPRIKA method;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • A13 - General Economics and Teaching - - General Economics - - - Relation of Economics to Social Values
    • C91 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Laboratory, Individual Behavior
    • D64 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Altruism; Philanthropy; Intergenerational Transfers
    • O1 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development

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