Home bias in humanitarian aid: The role of regional favoritism in the allocation of international disaster relief

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Bommer, Christian; Dreher, Axel; Perez-Alvarez, Marcello
• 署名单位: University of Gottingen; University of Gottingen; Ruprecht Karls University Heidelberg; Ruprecht Karls University Heidelberg; University of Erlangen Nuremberg
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF PUBLIC ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0047-2727
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jpubeco.2022.104604
• 发表日期: 2022
• 关键词: Humanitarian aid; natural disasters; Regional favoritism; Birth regions

摘要

This paper investigates whether regional favoritism shapes humanitarian aid flows. Using a rich and unique dataset derived from reports of the Office of US Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA), we show that substantially larger amounts of aid are disbursed when exogenous natural disasters hit the birth region of the recipient countries' political leader. While we find no evidence that US commercial or political interests affect the size of this home bias, the bias is stronger in countries with a weaker bureaucracy and governance, suggesting the absence of effective safeguards in the allocation of aid. (C) 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.