Elite Capture of Foreign Aid: Evidence from Offshore Bank Accounts

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Andersen, Jorgen Juel; Johannesen, Niels; Rijkers, Bob
• 署名单位: BI Norwegian Business School; University of Copenhagen; The World Bank
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF POLITICAL ECONOMY
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0022-3808
• DOI: 10.1086/717455
• 发表日期: 2022
• 页码: 388-425
• 关键词: tax evasion; ECONOMIC POSSIBILITIES; Hidden wealth; poverty; end; institutions; countries; NATIONS

摘要

Do elites capture foreign aid? This paper documents that aid disbursements to highly aid-dependent countries coincide with sharp increases in bank deposits in offshore financial centers known for bank secrecy and private wealth management but not in other financial centers. The estimates are not confounded by contemporaneous shocks-such as civil conflicts, natural disasters, and financial crises-and are robust to instrumenting using predetermined aid commitments. The implied leakage rate is around 7.5% at the sample mean and tends to increase with the ratio of aid to GDP. The findings are consistent with aid capture in the most aid-dependent countries.