Keywords

corruption, foreign aid, Sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract

This paper is a study of the effects of foreign aid on perceptions of political corruption in Sub-Saharan Africa. In keeping with the consensus on foreign aid effectiveness, this study proposed that Sub-Saharan African countries receiving more foreign aid would be more likely to maintain high levels of perceived corruption. Hypotheses were tested using multivariate regression, controlling for a number of factors which have shown to be influential on perceptions of political corruption. Two models were tested, one to show the regression over a period of nine years, and the other to show the relationship between the foreign aid and perceptions of corruption over one year. The tests resulted in showing a significantly negative relationship over nine years, but foreign aid lost its significance with perceptions of political corruption over one year. The most influential variable on political corruption in both models was the level of political rights in a country, which indicated a significantly negative relationship between the two variables. The paper also looked at Nigeria in a case study focusing on the effects of foreign aid on governance and economic policy environments, corruption being a major factor in both of these. This study resulted in the conclusion that increases in foreign aid paralleled improved perceptions of political corruption, and that Nigeria's reform initiative during the Obasanjo regime (1999-2007) was the major determining factor in this perception shift. Overall, this study supports the consensus that foreign aid given to countries with reform-minded governments is more likely to contribute to the fight against corruption.

Notes

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Graduation Date

2008

Advisor

Fine, Terri

Degree

Master of Arts (M.A.)

College

College of Sciences

Department

Political Science

Degree Program

Political Science

Format

application/pdf

Identifier

CFE0002440

URL

http://purl.fcla.edu/fcla/etd/CFE0002440

Language

English

Release Date

December 2008

Length of Campus-only Access

None

Access Status

Masters Thesis (Open Access)

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