The Lure of Technocracy? Chinese Aid and Local Preferences for Development Leadership in Africa

Should politicians, technocrats, or the free market guide the economic development of a developing country? The historical development paths of countries vary widely. Public opinion concerning the appropriateness of development models also varies across space and over time. Using geocoded Chinese aid data from the AidData and the second round Afrobarometer survey, this paper studies how Chinese aid affects local preferences for economic leadership in 16 African countries, 2000-2005. Our causal identification strategy is to compare the preferences of respondents who lived near an aid project site where a Chinese aid project had been implemented at the time of the interview (treated group) to individuals who lived close to a site where a Chinese project would be initiated shortly after the interview (control group). We find that Chinese aid increases the local population’s support for economic experts to run the economy. Using the same research design, we find that World Bank aid has no impact on local preferences for economic leadership.