Replication Data for: Political Leaders, Economic Hardship, and Foreign Aid Allocation

While political leaders’ role in foreign policy choices has received increasing scholarly attention, surprisingly less is known about how they affect the allocation and distribution of official development aid. This study examines how the material background of political leaders influence their aid allocation strategies in donor countries. We contend that leaders with economic hardship experience distribute more foreign aid than those without such experience. Through socialization, leaders with economic hardship experience become more supportive of public good provisions that address problems related to poverty and inequality. Resultantly, they exhibit more favorable attitudes toward development assistance programs targeting developing countries. We find that political leaders who experienced economic difficulty in their youth are likely to provide more foreign aid, especially social and economic infrastructure aid, than leaders without such experience. By introducing the political leaders’ role, this study contributes to the literature on the interaction between domestic politics and foreign aid.

尽管学界日益关注政治领导人在外交政策抉择中的作用，但令人意外的是，针对其如何影响官方发展援助（official development aid）的分配与配置的研究却相对匮乏。本研究探讨政治领导人的物质背景如何影响其在执政的援助捐赠国内的外援分配策略。本研究提出，经历过经济困顿的领导人，相较无此类经历者，会拨付更多的对外援助。经由社会化进程，拥有经济困顿经历的领导人会更支持旨在解决贫困与不平等问题的公共物品供给举措。因此，他们对面向发展中国家的发展援助项目持有更为积极的态度。本研究发现，青年时期经历过经济困境的政治领导人，相较无此类经历的领导人，更有可能提供更多对外援助，尤其是社会与经济基础设施类援助。本研究通过引入政治领导人的作用维度，丰富了关于国内政治与对外援助互动关系的相关学术文献。