Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/127421 
Year of Publication: 
2015
Series/Report no.: 
Discussion Paper Series No. 604
Publisher: 
University of Heidelberg, Department of Economics, Heidelberg
Abstract: 
Over 300 government members have had the main responsibility for international development cooperation in 23 member countries of the OECD’s Development Assistance Committee since the organization started reporting detailed Official Development Assistance (ODA) data in 1967. Understanding their role in foreign aid giving is crucial since their decisions might directly impact aid effectiveness and thus economic development on the ground. Our study examines whether development ministers’ personal characteristics influence aid budgets and aid quality. To this end, we create a novel database on development ministers’ gender, political ideology, prior professional experience in development cooperation, education in economics, and time in office over the 1967-2012 period. Results from fixed-effects panel regressions show that some of the personal characteristics of development ministers matter. Most notably, we find that more experienced ministers with respect to their time in office obtain larger aid budgets. Moreover, there is evidence that female ministers as well as officeholders with prior professional experience in development cooperation and a longer time in office provide higher-quality ODA.
Subjects: 
development minister
leadership
foreign aid
Official Development Assistance
aid budget
aid quality
personal characteristics
gender
partisan politics
experience
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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