Abstract
Majorities of citizens in high-income countries often oppose foreign aid spending. One popular explanation is that the public overestimates the percentage and amount of taxpayer funds that goes toward overseas aid. Does expressing aid flows in dollar and/or percentage terms shift public opinion toward aid? We report the results of an experiment examining differences in support for aid spending as a function of the information American and British respondents receive about foreign aid spending. In both nations, providing respondents with information about foreign aid spending as a percentage of the national budget significantly reduces support for cuts. The findings suggest that support for aid can be increased, but significant opposition to aid spending remains.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 119-128 |
Number of pages | 10 |
Journal | Journal of Experimental Political Science |
Volume | 4 |
Issue number | 2 |
Early online date | 14 Sept 2017 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | E-pub ahead of print - 14 Sept 2017 |
Keywords
- aid spending
- innumeracy
- public opinion
- framing development communications