Does China’s aid increase individual happiness of recipient countries?

This paper utilizes an instrumental variables approach to explore the influence of China's aid on the happiness of individuals in recipient countries. The results indicate that China's aid contributes significantly to the happiness of individuals in these countries. Through mechanism analy...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inEmpirical economics Vol. 66; no. 6; pp. 2761 - 2793
Main Authors Xu, Jinqiang, Sun, Churen
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.06.2024
Springer Nature B.V
Subjects
Econometrics
Economic growth
Economic theory
Economic Theory/Quantitative Economics/Mathematical Methods
Economics
Economics and Finance
Finance
Foreign aid
Happiness
Individual differences
Infrastructure
Insurance
Management
Social status
Standard of living
Statistics for Business
Individual happiness
Infrastructure
EMEC-D-23-00432
China's aid
Income
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Summary:This paper utilizes an instrumental variables approach to explore the influence of China's aid on the happiness of individuals in recipient countries. The results indicate that China's aid contributes significantly to the happiness of individuals in these countries. Through mechanism analysis, we identify two primary channels: the enhancement of the recipient's infrastructure and the elevation of their income levels. Individual-level heterogeneity analyses highlight a more pronounced effect of China's aid on those possessing advanced education and elevated social status. Country-level analyses further suggest that China's aid has a stronger positive correlation with happiness in countries with more advanced economic structures and superior living standards.
ISSN:0377-7332
1435-8921
DOI:10.1007/s00181-023-02537-0