Are Donors Really Responding? Analyzing the Impact of Global Restrictions on NGOs

Suparna Chaudhry and Andrew Heiss
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Andrew Heiss: Georgia State University

No mcgdn_v1, SocArXiv from Center for Open Science

Abstract: Foreign donors routinely use nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to deliver aid abroad. However, recent decades have witnessed a global cascade of restrictive anti-NGO legislation. How have foreign aid donors responded and adapted to this legal crackdown on NGOs? Using original data from all countries that received aid from 1981–2012, we assess the impact of anti-NGO laws on total flows of official foreign aid, the nature of projects funded, and the channels used for distributing this aid. Overall, we find that donors scale back their operations in repressive countries. However, rather than completely withdraw, we also find that donors redirect funds within restrictive countries by decreasing funds for politically sensitive issues in favor of regime-compatible causes. Donors also channel more aid through domestic rather than foreign NGOs; however, this change is by no means a perfect substitute. We conclude by discussing the implications of our findings for official aid donors, INGOs, and local groups working on contentious causes such as elections, human rights, media, corruption, and advocacy.

Date: 2025-06-25
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:osf:socarx:mcgdn_v1

DOI: 10.31219/osf.io/mcgdn_v1

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