The Impact of China’s “Stadium Diplomacy” on Local Economic Development in Sub-Saharan Africa

Valentin Lindlacher and Gustav Pirich

World Development, 2025, vol. 185, issue C

Abstract: This study investigates the economic impact of China’s “stadium diplomacy” in Sub-Saharan Africa. Exploiting the staggered timing of the construction in a difference-in-differences framework, we analyze the effect of Chinese-built and financed stadiums on local economic development. Employing nighttime light satellite data, we provide both an aggregate and spatially disaggregated assessment of these investments. We find that a stadium’s city nighttime light intensity increases by about 24 percent, on average, after stadium completion. The effects can be attributed to the stadiums but are not only visible close to the stadium’s location. Estimates on nighttime light activity are mirrored by individual-level employment effects in the stadiums’ surrounding area. For stadiums not built or financed by China, we cannot find similar effects. Our results contrast with the widely held notion that China’s development finance projects constitute “white elephants”.

Keywords: Stadium diplomacy; Regional development; Nighttime light; Local public infrastructure; Sub-Saharan Africa (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O18 O55 R11 R53 Z20 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:185:y:2025:i:c:s0305750x24002353

DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2024.106765

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