Determinants of disaster aid: donor interest or recipient need?

Abstract

This article examines the motivations behind the provision of disaster aid. Is this aid provision driven more by ‘humanitarian’ variables such as the severity of the political or natural emergency in the recipient state or ‘political’ variables such as the economic or strategic interest of the donor state? Through a statistical analysis of the aid activity of 22 donor states between 1997 and 2008, it is found that, contrary to much of the literature on humanitarian aid in general, humanitarian variables are consistently significant predictors of disaster aid provision. However, certain political variables are also significant, in that donor states provide more disaster aid to trading partners, former colonies, and military allies.

Keywords:

• foreign aid
• natural disaster
• humanitarianism
• disaster diplomacy

Notes

1 Helene Cooper, ‘Pledging Aid, Obama Says, “You Will Not Be Forsaken”’, New York Times, January 15, 2010.

2 Throughout the article, I will use ‘disaster aid’ to refer to humanitarian aid provided to states recovering from serious natural or political disaster. The operationalization of all of these terms will be discussed below.

3 Prominent recent work on foreign aid includes the following: Bruce Bueno de Mesquita and Alastair Smith, ‘Foreign Aid and Policy Concessions’, Journal of Conflict Resolution 51, no. 2 (2007): 251–84; Karen L. Remmer, ‘Does Foreign Aid Promote the Expansion of Government?’, American Journal of Political Science 48, no. 1 (2003): 77–92; Stephen Knack, ‘Does Foreign Aid Promote Democracy?’, International Studies Quarterly 48, no. 1 (2004): 251–66; Carl Jan Willem Schudel, ‘Corruption and Bilateral Aid: A Dyadic Approach’, Journal of Conflict Resolution 52, no. 4 (2008): 507–26; Brian Lai and Daniel S. Morey, ‘Impact of Regime Type on the Influence of U.S. Foreign Aid’, Foreign Policy Analysis 2, no. 4 (2006): 385–404; and Joseph Wright, ‘How Foreign Aid Can Foster Democratization in Authoritarian Regimes’, American Journal of Political Science 53, no. 3 (2009): 552–71.

4 In addition to the work cited below, see the following: Hans Morgenthau, ‘A Political Theory of Foreign Aid’, American Political Science Review 56, no. 2 (1962): 301–9; David L. Cingranelli and Thomas E. Pasquarello, ‘Human Rights Practices and the Distribution of U.S. Foreign Aid to Latin American Countries’, American Journal of Political Science 29, no. 3 (1985): 539–63; and Peter Boone, ‘Politics and the Effectiveness of Foreign Aid’, European Economic Review 40, no. 2 (1996): 289–329.

5 Steven Radelet, ‘A Primer on Foreign Aid’, Center for Global Development, Working Paper Number 92 (2006).

6 Tomohisa Hattori, ‘Reconceptualizing Foreign Aid’, Review of International Political Economy 8, no. 4 (2001): 636.

7 A. Cooper Drury, Richard Stuart Olson, and Douglas Van Belle, ‘The Politics of Humanitarian Aid: U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance, 1964–1995’, The Journal of Politics 67, no. 2 (2005): 454–73.

8 A second definitional confusion is that both ‘disaster aid’ and ‘emergency aid’ are used to describe aid following destructive events. I use both synonymously, depending on the source and specific literature being discussed.

9 Peter Schraeder, Steven Hook, and Bruce Taylor. ‘Clarifying the Foreign Aid Puzzle: A Comparison of American, Japanese, French, and Swedish Aid Flows’, World Politics 50, no. 2 (1998): 319.

10 Sukehiro Hasegawa, Japanese Foreign Aid: Policy and Practice (New York: Praeger, 1975).

11 Andrew R. Miller and Nives Dolsak, ‘Issue Linkages in International Environmental Policy: The International Whaling Commission and Japanese Development Aid’, Global Environmental Politics 7, no. 1 (2007): 69–96.

12 Edward A. Kolodziej, French Foreign Policy under de Gaulle and Pompidou: The Politics of Grandeur (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1974); Theresa Hayter, French Aid (London: Overseas Development Institute, 1966).

13 R.D. McKinlay and R. Little, ‘A Foreign Policy Model of U.S. Bilateral Aid Allocation’, World Politics 30, no. 1 (1977): 58–86.

16 A. Cooper Drury, Richard Stuart Olson, and Douglas Van Belle, ‘The Politics of Humanitarian Aid: U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance, 1964–1995’, The Journal of Politics 67, no. 2 (2005): 470.

14 Alberto Alesina and David Dollar, ‘Who Gives Foreign Aid to Whom and Why?’, Journal of Economic Growth 5, no. 1 (2000): 33–63.

15 Jose-Miguel Albala-Bertrand, The Political Economy of Large Natural Disasters (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1993); Stephen Green, International Disaster Relief: Toward a Responsive System (New York: McGraw Hill, 1977); Lynn H. Stephens and Stephen J. Green, Disaster Assistance: Appraisal, Reform, and New Approaches (New York: New York University Press, 1979).

17 See also Eric Neumayer, ‘Is Respect for Human Rights Rewarded? An Analysis of Total Bilateral and Multilateral Aid Flows’, Human Rights Quarterly 25, no. 2 (2003): 510–27; Clair Apodaca and Michael Stohl, ‘United States Human Rights Policy and Foreign Assistance’, International Studies Quarterly 43, no. 1 (1999): 185–98; and Burton A. Abrams and Kenneth A. Lewis, ‘Human Rights and the Distribution of U.S. Foreign Aid’, Public Choice 77, no. 4 (1993): 815–21.

18 Ben Wisner etal., At Risk: Natural Hazards, People's Vulnerability and Disasters (London: Routledge, 2004).

19 Morris Davis and Steven Thomas Seitz, ‘Disasters and Governments’, Journal of Conflict Resolution 26, no. 3 (1982): 547.

20 Thomas Homer-Dixon, ‘On the Threshold: Environmental Changes as Causes of Acute Conflict’, International Security 16, no. 2 (1991): 76–116; Dawn Brancati, ‘Political Aftershocks: The Impact of Earthquakes on Intrastate Conflict’, Journal of Conflict Resolution 51, no. 5 (2007): 715–43; and Philip Nel and Marjolein Righarts, ‘Natural Disaster and the Risk of Violent Civil Conflict’, International Studies Quarterly 52, no. 1 (2008): 159–85.

21 Charlotte Benson and Edward J. Clay, Understanding the Economic and Financial Impacts of Natural Disasters (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2004); Vinod Sharma, ed., Disaster Management (New Delhi: Indian Institute of Public Administration, 1994); Philip Buckle, Graham Mars, and Syd Smale, ‘New Approaches to Assessing Vulnerability and Resilience’, Australian Journal of Emergency Management 15, no. 2 (2000): 8–14; and Frederick Cuny, Disasters and Development (New York: Oxfam and Oxford University Press, 1983).

22 Alpaslan Ozerdem, ‘The Mountain Tsunami: Afterthoughts on the Kashmir Earthquake’, Third World Quarterly 27, no. 3 (2006): 397–419.

23 Ilan Kelman, ‘Acting on Disaster Diplomacy’, Journal of International Affairs 59, no. 2 (2006): 215–41; and Jean-Christophe Gaillard, Elsa Clave, and Ilan Kelman, ‘Wave of Peace? Tsunami Disaster Diplomacy in Aceh, Indonesia’, Geoforum 39, no. 1 (2008): 511–26.

24 The DAC's full mandate is available at http://www.oecd.org/document/62/0,3343,en_2649_33721_1918654_1_1_1_1,00.html (accessed June 24, 2010).

25 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, OECD Development Assistance Committee: Where Governments Come Together to Make Aid Work, 2007, http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/39/58/39218438.pdf (accessed June 24, 2010).

26 The DAC's International Development Statistics (IDS) online database is available at http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/50/17/5037721.htm (accessed June 24, 2010).

27 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Inside the DAC: A Guide to the OECD Development Assistance Committee, 2009, p. 8, http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/43/32/40986871.pdf (accessed June 24, 2010).

28 GDP data is taken from the International Monetary Fund's World Economic Outlook Database and is available at http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2008/02/weodata/index.aspx (accessed June 24, 2010).

29 McKinlay and Little, ‘A Foreign Policy Model, 58.

30 Andrew Moravcsik, ‘Taking Preferences Seriously: A Liberal Theory of International Politics’, International Organization 51, no. 4 (1997): 513.

31 Jean-Sebastien Rioux and Douglas A. Van Belle, ‘The Influence of Le Monde Coverage on French Foreign Aid Allocation’, International Studies Quarterly 49, no. 3 (2005): 481–502.

32 Alexander Wendt, Social Theory of International Politics (Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press, 1999).

33 Jeffrey Checkel, ‘International Norms and Domestic Politics’, European Journal of International Relations 3, no. 4 (1997): 473–95; Ethan Nadelmann, ‘Global Prohibition Regimes: The Evolution of Norms in International Society’, International Organization 44, no. 4 (1990): 479–526; and Audie Klotz, Norms in International Relations: The Struggle Against Apartheid (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1995).

34 Emilie Hafner–Burton, ‘Sticks and Stones: Naming and Shaming the Human Rights Enforcement Problem’, International Organization 62, no. 4 (2008): 689–716; Martha Finnemore, The Purpose of Intervention: Changing Beliefs about the Use of Force (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2004); Margaret Keck and Kathryn Sikkink, Activists Beyond Borders: Advocacy Networks in International Politics (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1998).

35 Patrick Cockburn, ‘The US is Failing Haiti – Again’, The Independent, January 16, 2010; and Neil MacFarquhar, ‘Billions of Dollars are Pledged for Haiti, but Skepticism Remains’, The New York Times, April 1, 2010.

36 Bruce Bueno de Mesquita, The War Trap (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1981); James Fearon, ‘Rationalist Explanations for War’, International Organization 49, no. 3 (1995): 379–414; and Christopher H. Achen and Duncan Snidal, ‘Rational Deterrence Theory and Comparative Case Studies’, World Politics 41, no. 2 (1989): 143–69.

37 Ahmet Evin, ‘Changing Greek Perspectives on Turkey: An Assessment of the Post-Earthquake Rapprochement’, Turkish Studies 5, no. 1 (2004): 4–20.

38 In addition to sources cited above, see E.L. Quarantelli and R.R. Dynes, ‘Community Conflict: Its Absence and its Presence in National Disasters’, Mass Emergencies 1, no. 1 (1976): 139–52; Carl R. Ember and Melvin Ember, ‘Resource Unpredictability, Mistrust and War: A Cross-Cultural Study’, Journal of Conflict Resolution 36, no. 2 (1992): 242–62; and Edward Miguel, Shaner Satyanath, and Ernest Sergenti, ‘Economic Shocks and Civil Conflict: An Instrumental Variables Approach’, Journal of Political Economy 112, no. 4 (2004): 725–53.

39 ‘EM-DAT: The OFDA/CRED International Disaster Database’, Universite Catholique de Louvain, http://www.em-dat.net (accessed June 24, 2010).

40 Meredith Reid Sarkees, ‘The Correlates of War Data on War: An Update to 1997’, Conflict Management and Peace Science 18, no. 1 (2000): 123–44.

41 Travis Nelson, ‘International Politics of Disaster Aid Refusal’, Conflict, Security, and Development 10, no. 3 (2010): 379–402.

42 ‘No More Aid Please’, The Economist, June 21, 2003.

43 As above, GDP data is taken from the International Monetary Fund's World Economic Outlook Database and is available at http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2008/02/weodata/index.aspx (accessed June 24, 2010).

44 Katherine Barbieri, Omar M.G. Keshk, and Brian Pollins. ‘Trading Data: Evaluating our Assumptions and Coding Rules’, Conflict Management and Peace Science 26, no. 5 (2009): 471–91.

45 EIA data can be found at http://www.eia.doe.gov/ (accessed June 24, 2010). Data from 2005 and 2006 are predicted values by the EIA.

46 Joanne Gowa, Allies, Adversaries, and International Trade (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1995).

47 Douglas M. Gibler and Meredith Sarkees, ‘Measuring Alliances: The Correlates of War Formal Interstate Alliance Data Set, 1816–2000’, Journal of Peace Research 41, no. 2 (2004): 211–22.

48 Data on the distance between capitals is taken from Kristian Gleditsch and is available at http://privatewww.essex.ac.uk/~ksg/data-5.html (accessed May 1, 2009).

49 Bruce Russett and John R. Oneal, Triangulating Peace: Democracy, Interdependence, and International Organizations (New York: Norton, 2001); Randolph Siverson, ‘Democracies and War Participation: In Defense of the Institutional Constraints Argument’, European Journal of International Relations 1, no. 4 (1995): 481–89; and Kenneth Schultz, ‘Do Democratic Institutions Constrain or Inform? Contrasting Two Institutional Perspectives on Democracy and War’, International Organization 53, no. 2 (1999): 233–66.

50 George W. Bush, The National Security Strategy of the United States of America (Garden City, NY: Morgan James Publishing, 2009); Bill Clinton, National Security Strategy of the United States 1994–1995: Engagement and Enlargement (Dulles, VA: Potomac Books, 1994).

51 James J. Heckman, ‘The Common Structure of Statistical Models of Truncation, Sample Estimation for Such Models’, Annals of Economic and Social Measurement 5, no. 4 (1976): 475–92.

52 Information on the Failed State Index is available at http://www.fundforpeace.org (accessed June 25, 2010).

53 See Michael Barnett, Empire of Humanity: A History of Humanitarianism (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2011); Michael Barnett and Thomas G. Weiss, eds., Humanitarianism in Question: Politics, Power, Ethics (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2008); Nicholas Wheeler, Saving Strangers: Humanitarian Intervention in International Society (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003); David Rieff, A Bed for the Night: Humanitarianism in Crisis (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2003).