Do Human Rights Matter in Bilateral Aid Allocation? A Quantitative Analysis of 21 Donor Countries

Objective. To analyze the role of human rights in aid allocation of 21 donor countries. Methods. Econometric analysis is applied to a panel covering the period 1985 to 1997. Results. Respect for civil/political rights plays a statistically significant role for most donors at the aid eligibility stag...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Social science quarterly 2003-09, Vol.84 (3), p.650-666
Main Author: Neumayer, Eric
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Bilateral aid
Civil liberties
Civil rights
Crossnational studies
Decision making
Developed countries
Eligibility
Foreign Aid
Foreign Policy
Former colonies
Freedom
Freedom of assembly
GDP
Gross Domestic Product
Human Rights
Imprisonment
International relations
Military aid
Of Genaral Interest
Political sociology
Proxy reporting
Proxy statements
Resource Allocation
Sociology
Torture
Variables
Violations
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Summary:Objective. To analyze the role of human rights in aid allocation of 21 donor countries. Methods. Econometric analysis is applied to a panel covering the period 1985 to 1997. Results. Respect for civil/political rights plays a statistically significant role for most donors at the aid eligibility stage. Personal integrity rights, on the other hand, have a positive impact on aid eligibility for few donors only. At the level stage, most donors fail to promote respect for human rights in a consistent manner and often give more aid to countries with a poor record on either civil/political or personal integrity rights. No systematic difference is apparent between the like-minded countries commonly regarded as committed to human rights (Canada, Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden) and the other donors. Conclusions. Contrary to their verbal commitment, donor countries do not consistently reward respect for human rights in their foreign aid allocation.
ISSN:0038-4941
1540-6237
DOI:10.1111/1540-6237.8403010