Dissertation

Foreign Aid and Public Opinion in Donor and Recipient Countries

My research focuses on foreign aid and public opinion, with an emphasis on how citizens in recipient countries perceive aid and donors, the political and economic factors shaping these perceptions, and their consequences for development policy. These questions are motivated by my prior career in the Japanese foreign service, where I promoted Japan’s development partnerships in Africa through public diplomacy.

My dissertation project consists of three papers that investigate foreign aid and public opinion in both donor and recipient countries.

Paper 1: Drivers of Public Support for Foreign Aid: Democracy Promotion or Competition for Influence? (Revise & Resubmit at Foreign Policy Analysis)

How does American public opinion balance competing interests in foreign aid: promoting democracy through aid conditionality vs. using aid to enhance soft power amid increasing competition from non-traditional donors like China?

Paper 2: What Do Aid Recipients Think of Aid Projects and Donors? Evidence from a Conjoint Experiment in Kenya

I examine whether aid recipients prefer aid projects from less politicized donors such as Japan compared to the US and China, and whether they favor certain types of projects. I address this question using a conjoint experiment in Kenya.

Paper 3: Reducing Aid Dependence? The Effects of US Aid Cuts on Kenyan Views of the US, Government, and Other Donors

Using a survey experiment in Kenya, I investigate the impact of recent US aid cuts on aid recipients’ support for the US, other donors, and the Kenyan government. How do Kenyan citizens perceive the aid cuts and their consequences, such as the funding gaps in the health sector, and what strategies do they prefer the government to adopt in response?