The Impact of US and China’s Grant Aid Upon Voting Similarity with the Least Developed Countries in the United Nations General Assembly

Abstract

Purpose: This paper aims to demonstrate the vote buying behavior of the US and China at the UNGA through their grant aid, and to identify changes in the impact of grant aid on the recipient countries when they receive aid from two competing donors at the same time.
 Originality: There is inconsistency among previous studies, which analyze the correlation between voting similarity with recipients and the amount of disbursed foreign aid. This paper is designed by supplementing the limitations of previous studies.
 Methodology: By using panel data, the impact of grant aid from the US and China from 2000 to 2017 on the voting behavior of 45 LDCs at the UNGA is analyzed.
 Result: As a result, it is found that the US grant aid has improved voting similarity with LDCs. However, no statistically significant effect is found for China’s grant aid increasing voting coincidence. However, when recipients receive grant aid from the US and China at the same time, the effectiveness of US grant aid is reduced compared to when only US grant aid is provided. The result shows that Chinese grant aid exerts an indirect effect of offsetting the influence of US grant aid on recipients’ voting behavior.
 Conclusion and Implication: This study implies that US and Chinese self- interest-seeking behaviors via their grant aid still remain, and it is an appropriate tool to achieve their objectives. However, when the LDCs receive grant aid from both countries together, the effect of the US grant aid is decreased compared to when only US grant aid is provided. From the LDCs’ perspective, the increase in providing grant aid from the US and China reduces their dependence on grant aid from a single donor country. It, therefore, implies that the increasing contributes for them to broadening their options when they make a vote.