TY - JOUR
T1 - Home bias in humanitarian aid
T2 - The role of regional favoritism in the allocation of international disaster relief
AU - Bommer, Christian
AU - Dreher, Axel
AU - Perez Alvarez, Marcello
PY - 2022/4
Y1 - 2022/4
N2 - This paper investigates whether regional favoritism shapes humanitarian aid flows. Using a rich and unique dataset derived from reports of the Office of US Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA), we show that substantially larger amounts of aid are disbursed when exogenous natural disasters hit the birth region of the recipient countries’ political leader. While we find no evidence that US commercial or political interests affect the size of this home bias, the bias is stronger in countries with a weaker bureaucracy and governance, suggesting the absence of effective safeguards in the allocation of aid.
AB - This paper investigates whether regional favoritism shapes humanitarian aid flows. Using a rich and unique dataset derived from reports of the Office of US Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA), we show that substantially larger amounts of aid are disbursed when exogenous natural disasters hit the birth region of the recipient countries’ political leader. While we find no evidence that US commercial or political interests affect the size of this home bias, the bias is stronger in countries with a weaker bureaucracy and governance, suggesting the absence of effective safeguards in the allocation of aid.
U2 - 10.1016/j.jpubeco.2022.104604
DO - 10.1016/j.jpubeco.2022.104604
M3 - Article
SN - 0047-2727
VL - 208
JO - Journal of Public Economics
JF - Journal of Public Economics
M1 - 104604
ER -