australian foreign aid

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What motivates Australian foreign aid?

• Humanitarianism

• Political Interests

• IMF voting power

https://www.civcap.info/?id=84

Recipient need and donor interest models

• McKinlay and Little

• RN

• DI

The case for rn

• AusAID

• Poverty in Oceania

• Findings for RN•McCawley•Gounder

Center for International Earth Science Information Network. Child Malnutrition [map]. Scale not given. “Global Subnational Prevalence of Child

Malnutrition, v1.” NASA Earth Data. <http://sedac.ciesin.columbia.edu/data/set/povmap-global-subnational-

prevalence-child-malnutritions/maps> (6 October 2012).

Research supporting di

• “Among the most egoistic” (Berthelemy 2006).

• Regional bias

• Economic interests

• Politics

ineffective aid

• Tied aid (Easterly and Williamson)

• Food aid and technological assistance

• AusAID rhetoric

Pictures from Clip Art

initial hypothesis and Testing for rnIf the mean GDPpc in Oceania is not lower than that of all of the other regions in the world, RN is not the only motivating factor in Australia’s aid.GDP per capita in constant 2000 US $Region* Observations MeanOceania 336 1637.94Africa 1895 859.33World 5768 2849.11

SOURCE: WDI 2012

*Countries included are only those which receive aid.

A background of imf voting blocs

• Quotas

• Electing executive board members

SOURCE: IMF Annual Report, various years

Primary hypothesis

Australia channels its aid budget to the countries in its voting block to enlarge their quotas, and thereby its own power in the IMF.

DI Variables

• IV: Australian Foreign Aid

• Main DV: Membership in Australia’s IMF Bloc

• Control Variables:oPopulationoGDPpcoTrade

Regression results confirm hypothesis

Variable Coef. t P>ltlaussieIMF 101.46 23.35 0

population 3.97E-08 6.12 0

gdppercapita -0.0011 6.12 0

trade_k 8.39E-11 1.44 0.149

cons 9.322 8.59 0

SOURCE: OECD 2012, WDI 2012

Further research

• Additional control variables

• Adverse humanitarian effects

• Australia’s interest in the IMF

Australia’s foreign aid motivations are…

• Not Recipient Need

• Donor Interest

• Tied to IMF voting power

• Indicative of Australia’s international political strategy