Recipient Countries Research Articles

Discursive blame attribution strategies in migration news frames: How blame for perceived migration-related problems is mediated in journalistic framing

Public debates are rife with overt blame attributions—the explicit assignment of moral responsibility for problems in society to individuals and groups. The present study develops a framework for identifying discursive blame attribution strategies in the journalistic mediation of problems through the use of causality construction, which enables an understanding of how blame is attributed implicitly. I draw on a qualitative and quantitative discourse analysis of migration frames to distinguish three types of perceived migration-related problems: security-based, economic, and cultural. I make a further distinction based on whether these problems are causally explained by: (1) reference to migrants’ alleged culture and religion or (2) the socioeconomic conditions they experience in the recipient country. The study advances our understanding of blame attribution by drawing attention to the subtle ways groups are held responsible for problems in society through journalistic mediation processes and how context influences mediated blame attribution.

Chinese aid and country image: Average and heterogeneous patterns

In this paper, we provide novel evidence on the effects of Chinese aid on China's country image. Our analysis exploits data on Chinese aid projects and local perceptions of China from 2002 to 2015 with a staggered difference-in-differences empirical strategy. We find that, on average, the Chinese aid has no significant effect on China's country image. More importantly. we further classify Chinese aid into five sectors and establish significant heterogeneous patterns: Chinese aid in the education and health sector has a positive and significant effect on local perceptions of China, while aid in the infrastructure sector yields a negative effect. Further investigations provide suggestive evidence that the economic development and local employment may be main channels. Finally, we highlight the vital role of bilateral political relations and substantial heterogeneity regarding geographical regions of recipient countries.

Türkiye's Health Diplomacy Activities: A Qualitative Research

Health diplomacy is a field that facilitates the implementation and governance of global health policies. Assisting, such as transferring expertise, experience, and human and medical equipment to different countries, constitutes the content of health diplomacy. The main argument of this study is that Türkiye provides official development assistance abroad, establishes and operates health enterprises, and provides medical rescue and emergency health services in disasters and emergencies. For this reason, it has been tried to reveal Türkiye's perception of health diplomacy, how the health service process is carried out across the border, and the possible contributions of these services. A case study design was used to examine Türkiye's health diplomacy process. In this context, interviews were conducted with the public (n=1) and non-governmental organization personnel (n=8). The research findings were evaluated within the framework of four main themes: perception of health diplomacy, difficulties experienced in the health diplomacy process, solutions to the difficulties encountered in the health diplomacy process, and contributions of health diplomacy. The perception of health diplomacy is fieldwork, experience transfer, support, joint action, foreign policy, soft power, and health priority. In the process of health service delivery, it has been determined that there are difficulties in terms of medical equipment, service delivery, personnel, and politics, and these difficulties are tried to be solved through cooperation, communication, and other means. It has been concluded that health diplomacy contributes to the health of the recipient country or region and supports employment with newly opened health institutions. In addition, it was determined that Turkish health personnel gained experience, sympathy for Türkiye developed, and prejudices were broken.

통합적 접근법 실현을 위한 ODA 정책과제

Purpose: This research aims to identify policy tasks for international development cooperation (ODA) projects in order to implement an integrated approach and evaluate them. In this context, the paper redefines the definitions and classifications of integrated approaches, explores methodological changes, and evaluates the potential for mainstreaming.
 Originality: An integrated approach has been emerging at a time when ODA projects have been packaged or enlarged, emphasizing a holistic and comprehensive perspective. This study aims to derive practical concepts shaped by discourse and consensus among experts in the field.
 Methodology: The policy agenda for integrating ODA projects is identified through a Delphi survey involving 30 distinguished experts in the field of international development cooperation. The survey assesses the importance, urgency, and feasibility of each agenda item.
 Result: External factors are more urgent compared to internal factors, but they are not considered more important or highly feasible. The high-priority policy tasks include facilitating adequate discussions on supply and demand between donor and recipient countries (partner countries), enhancing cooperation with relevant departments/agencies in recipient countries, and improving the project management capacity of Korean specialized institutions.
 Conclusion and Implication: These results are expected to contribute to the development of related policies and program design based on the integrated approach. Furthermore, this research can contribute to the formulation of relevant national policies and enhance the national brand.

수원국의 ESG 요인이 공여국의 ODA 재원 배분에 미친 영향

Purpose: This study aims to empirically analyze how ESG factors in recipient countries influence the donor’s ODA allocation.
 Originality: It analyses donors' ODA allocation behavior from an ESG perspective. It also explains the environmental factors of recipient countries, which have been increasingly emphasized since the UN SDGs agenda.
 Methodology: To analyze the impact of recipient countries' ESG factors on the donor’s ODA allocation, a standardized ESG index for each country is constructed. There are various unobservable factors which likely to influence the ODA allocation, hence time-varying and time-invariant fixed effects are incorporated. Meanwhile, the country-specific ESG indices are constructed using quantitative techniques.
 Result: ESG and SDG indicators demonstrate a statistically significant positive correlation. An analysis of the impact of ESG factors on the donor’s ODA allocation reveals that social factors played a significant role during 2005-2013. From 2014 to 2020, both social and environmental factors were statistically significant, while governance factors did not attain statistical significance.
 Conclusion and Implication: When examining the correlation between ESG and SDG indicators, a statistically significant positive correlation is observed. This suggests that ESG factors can act as a building block towards the achievement of SDGs in recipient countries. The ESG factors played varying roles over time. From 2005 to 2013, social factors were significant, while from 2014 to 2020, both social and environmental factors showed statistical significance. It can be explained by the paradigm shift in development cooperation. However, governance factors did not achieve statistical significance in any estimation methods, implying that, considerations of governance factors might have been relatively insufficient.

한국 녹색 ODA 메커니즘 변화에 대한 연구

Purpose: This study analyzes changes in the mechanism of South Korea’s Green ODA to ASEAN-Korea partner countries.
 Originality: The allocation of Green ODA support cannot be comprehensively explained by neither the donor country interest model nor the recipient country need model. Thus, it is essential to broaden the discussion by considering various combinations of conditions that impact the allocation of Green ODA.
 Methodology: Utilizing Fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis, this study identifies the changing allocation patterns of South Korea's Green ODA. Subsequently, case studies were conducted based on the results of the combination of causal conditions.
 Result: In 2006 and 2011, the causal conditions converged into the same combination. However, two distinct patterns were identified in 2021. Both combinations are characterized by low trade volumes and a low democracy index from the donors’ interest, as well as by lower exports of eco-friendly products and a lower GDP per capita from the recipients’ need. Despite these shared traits, differences emerged in FDI and environmental vulnerability. These results underline how unique combinations of factors influence Green ODA distribution differently. Detailed case studies on Cambodia and Laos, particularly the latter, illustrate scenarios where conventional criteria of donor country's interests and recipient country's needs were not met. Despite this, a significant level of Green ODA was still secured.
 Conclusion and Implication: This study contributed to enhance Green ODA's integral role in global environmental governance, emphasizing the importance of formulating Green ODA strategies that aligned with the environmental goals and unique socio-economic contexts of recipient countries.

공여국 원조품질의 영향 요인 분석

Purpose: This study aims to identify the factors that influence the quality of aid provided by donors.
 Originality: Unlike existing aid effectiveness research that mainly focuses on institutional improvements in recipient countries, this study focuses on enhancing aid quality of donors for aid effectiveness. It also differentiates itself from previous studies by adopting a more comprehensive approach to defining and analyzing aid quality rather than treating it as a single factor.
 Methodology: The dependent variable, aid quality, is measured through principal component analysis of five variables from the QuODA dataset. The independent variables consist of five factors influencing aid quality: institutional, structural, macro-economic, strategic importance, and aid volume factor. Panel regression analysis with a fixed effect model was conducted on 22 OECD DAC bilateral donors over the five years(2008, 2009, 2012, 2016, 2019) for which the CGD collected QuODA data.
 Result: Peer pressure and income level of donors were found to have a statistically significant effect on aid quality. Consistent with the original hypothesis, increased pressure from other countries was associated with higher aid quality. Contrary to the original hypothesis, however, higher income level of donors was associated with lower aid quality.
 Conclusion and Implication: Creating a competitive environment that allows for comparison of aid effectiveness among donors can enhance aid quality by motivating donors to refine their aid policies and practices. In addition, economically wealthier donors can improve aid quality by expanding their contributions to multilateral aid, ensuring that aid policies and practices are closely aligned with the needs of recipient countries.

Foreign direct investment inflows and business cycles

According to the stylized facts of the empirical real business cycle literature, investment is a procyclical variable, i.e. it co-moves with business cycles. Consequently, foreign direct investment's procyclical behavior is hypothesized and tested in this paper. A big sample of 74 (and 65 in the extended model) countries is used, and the hypothesis is tested on quarterly data with an average length of 90 periods, i.e. 22 years. Business cycles are identified by the Hodrick-Prescott filter, and the use of high-frequency data makes the results more precise and reliable. Using fixed effect regressions first the procyclicality of domestic investment is demonstrated, then the cyclical behavior of foreign direct investment is tested. Data shows that FDI is also procyclical. This result is robust, as it takes into account potential confounding variables. The paper's conclusion is that there is significant co-movement between foreign direct investment inflows and the recipient countries' business cycles.

Impediments in attracting greenfield investment: does a stable absorption rate of the European cohesion policy make a difference?

ABSTRACT This paper seeks to investigate how the absorption rate of the European Cohesion Policy (ECP) funds and its dynamics are related to the creation of greenfield foreign direct investment (FDI) projects in the European Union (EU). A dynamic panel estimation based on 28 recipient countries in 2007–2016 reveals that a high ECP funds absorption rate alone does not ensure the creation of greenfield FDI. However, stable absorption (i.e. low dynamics in the ECP funds absorption rate) seems to promote greenfield investment. The large year-to-year changes in the ECP funds absorption rate appear to indicate a non-stable business environment that may hamper new investment, calling for corrective mechanisms to prevent the inefficient rapid withdrawal of funds after the eligibility period.

Perceived Detention Environment and Mental Health of Detainees in Immigration Detention Centers in Spain.

The increase in migratory flows worldwide has led to the creation of detention centers as a form of control of irregular migration. Recipient countries are responsible for protecting detainees' right to mental health, but the literature suggests that immigration detention centers are environments associated with complex mental health needs among the detainees. This study aims to approach the mental health of people detained in the immigration detention centers in Spain, a southern border of Europe. Eighty-seven migrants coming from different Latin American and African countries were interviewed using an adaptation of the Measure of Quality of Life in Detention (MQLD; Bosworth & Gerlach, 2020) to measure the perceived detention environment and The Hopkins Symptom Checklist-25 (HSCL-25; Derogatis et al., 1974) to assess mental health. The results show a high prevalence of detainees with significant levels of anxiety and depression (69%) and attempts at self-harm within the detention centers (19.5%). A more positive perception of the detention environment-especially concerning institutional decency and the relationship with officers-is related to a lower degree of negative mental health symptoms. Finally, people detained for more than 2weeks assess the detention environment more negatively than those detained for less time. Scientific contributions and social implications to ensure the mental health of detainees from a human rights-based approach are discussed.

China's Motivation for Providing Medical Aid during COVID‐19

The global economy has been adversely affected by the COVID‐19 pandemic, leading to setbacks in development progress. Against this backdrop, donor countries have increased their expenditure on medical aid as part of their foreign assistance. As an emerging donor from the developing world, China has also been actively involved in providing medical assistance to other countries since 2020. This paper intends to investigate and elucidate China's motivation to offer medical aid to other countries amid the COVID‐19 pandemic. To this end, it utilizes a combination of quantitative and qualitative research methods. Specifically, the Tobit model is employed to conduct regression analyses on China's medical assistance during the pandemic. Additionally, two case studies, namely Chinese aid to Pakistan and the Democratic Republic of Congo, are examined to gain insights into the specific motivations driving China's medical aid. The results of this paper indicate that China's motivation for providing medical assistance during COVID‐19 is multifaceted, including self‐interested economic and political‐diplomatic factors rather than purely altruistic motives. Furthermore, the allocation of China's medical aid is significantly influenced by whether the recipient country is involved in the Belt and Road Initiative.

Evaluation of Chinese OFDI on Local Industrial Structure: A Case Study based on Countries along the “One Belt and One Road”

With the “One Belt and One Road Initiative” (BRI) initially launched in 2013, Chinese outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) has obtained a further growth, which has had an unavoidable effect on the local economic activities of recipient countries. In order to weigh the potential and long-term impact of Chinese OFDI on local economy, this paper determines to test the correlation between Chinese OFDI and changes on local industrial structure via establishing a series of indicator. Relying on the data from countries along BRI from 2013 to 2021, the paper obtain two conclusions: (1) Chinese OFDI affects and improve the industrial efficiency of countries along BRI. (2) There are not obvious evidences on the correlation between Chinese OFDI and the proportion of different industries and the rationalization of local industrial structure, which needs a extensive study.

The impact of official development assistance on foreign direct investment: the case of Japanese firms in India

While there is no clear answer to the overall impact of Official Development Assistance (ODA) on Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), it has been pointed out that Japanese ODA promotes its FDI. However, the mechanism of ODA’s impact on FDI has not been fully examined at the micro level, as most previous studies have used macro-level data. Therefore, this study examines the impact of ODA on FDI at the micro level in India, where an increase in ODA and FDI from Japan have been observed in recent years. Interviews were conducted with three Japanese firms and five Japanese public organizations, while questionnaires were administered to 33 Japanese firms. The results reveal that ODA effectively promotes FDI, albeit to a lesser extent than other FDI determinants. Economic infrastructure development through ODA, the expectations of such development, and the reception of orders for ODA Loan projects, promote FDI. Furthermore, the role of public institutions, including providing information to firms and acting as intermediaries with the government, is more effective in promoting FDI than ODA. Based on these results, in light of the OLI theory, it is suggested that a possible mechanism is that Japanese ODA promotes FDI by enhancing the “Ownership Specific Advantages” of Japanese firms and the “Location Advantages” of recipient countries. The novelty of this study lies in its clarification of the mechanism through which ODA promotes FDI from a micro-perspective, as revealed by a questionnaire survey conducted among firms. The FDI-promoting effects of ODA for economic infrastructure and ODA Loan suggested in this study not only contributes to the academic community but also have important implications for ODA policymakers.

Foreign Military Training and Socialization: An Examination of Human Capital and Norm Transmission Between Allies

Abstracts Foreign military personnel routinely participate in educational and cultural programs administered by the U.S. military. In addition to bolstering the capacity of the recipient military, one of the primary goals of these programs is to professionalize the military of the recipient state. It is hoped not only that the soldiers will internalize norms of human rights and democracy themselves but also that they will become influential members of the military in the future. Existing cross-national research, along with selective anecdotes of U.S.-trained soldiers leading coups and rebellions, suggests that military aid may be ineffective. To date, however, a nuanced understanding of the more granular effects of military aid on the recipient country has been hindered by a lack of data and a focus on the macro-level. We address this lacuna by examining norm transmission among a sample of the Hungarian officer corps. We show that while soldiers who graduated from IMET programs display more favorability toward human rights and democracy, they do not believe the military should remain insulated from policymaking. We believe this is a valuable step toward a deeper understanding of how U.S. military aid shapes recipient militaries and, more broadly, how norms are transmitted between allies.

Staying in the shadow or not? Remittances and the Shadow Economy

AbstractObjectiveThis study investigates the impact of remittances on the shadow economy and how domestic institutions, particularly property rights, moderate this relationship.MethodsWe employed a quantitative research method using panel data from developing countries from 1990 to 2018. We adopted both fixed‐effects and instrumental variable approaches to address possible endogeneity concerns between remittances and the shadow economy.ResultsThe results demonstrate that remittances are positively associated with the shadow economy's size. However, this positive effect is weaker in countries with strong property rights institutions. These findings remain robust across alternative measures of key variables and estimation techniques.ConclusionThe results suggest that foreign income in the form of remittances is an important determinant of the shadow economy in recipient countries. We believe that exploring the relationship between foreign sources of income and the decisions of economic actors to enter specific sectors warrants further investigation.

Foreign direct investment and domestic innovation: Roles of absorptive capacity, quality of regulations and property rights.

Foreign Direct Investment is theoretically expected to facilitate the transfer of knowledge from the home country to the host country, however, the empirical evidence on the subject is mixed. Some studies have shown that, on one hand, as competition grows, the incentive to innovate reduces with the decrease in monopoly rents (Schumpeterian effect). On the other hand, market competition can also boost investments in R&D activities incentivized by incremental profits (Escape-Competition effect). Therefore, this study aims to explore which of these two effects dominates in the selected group of countries. This study also identifies the moderators of the relationship between FDI stock and domestic innovation. It examines the role of absorptive capacity, quality of regulations, and property rights protection in the innovative activities of the host countries. Generalized Method of Moments is used to estimate the parameters of the multivariate regression equation. The analysis is based on panel data consisting of 49 countries over 14 years. The results show that FDI has a negative relationship with domestic innovation, indicating the presence of the Schumpeterian effect. The extensions of the main models show that FDI positively affects domestic innovation in countries with higher absorptive capacity, the superior quality of regulation, and stronger protection of property rights. This study shows that the positive relationship between FDI and domestic innovation is conditional on the ability to absorb knowledge and quality of governance in the recipient countries.

Current Status and Sustainable Development Strategies of Traditional Korean Medicine Official Development Assistance (ODA) in Global Health

Objectives: Korea has a unique history of being both a recipient and a donor of Official Development Assistance (ODA), and the international community expects Korea to contribute to the development of developing countries by utilizing this experience. Traditional Korean medicine (TKM) seeks to contribute to global health, however the concept of ODA has been unclear and there has been no clear strategy and sustainable initiatives.Methods: This study examines the concept of ODA and its application in global health, including business objectives, scale, evaluation principles, and development strategies. Additionally, we reviewed the current status of Traditional Korean medicine globalization projects and conducted a SWOT analysis of the internal and external environment of the TKM sector. Based on these findings, we redefined the concept of ODA for TKM and proposed suggestions for its development.Results: The current study identified key ideas for TKM ODA. It should prioritize the improvement of primary healthcare in recipient countries, aligning with the international evaluation criteria of the SDGs. Secondly, TKM's 70 years of experience can be leveraged to enhance both the competence and economic benefits of recipient countries' medical systems. Based on these concepts, a TKM ODA development model was proposed, comprising two core visions, three development strategies and goals, and six core values.Conclusion: This study systematically examined the TKM in global health and suggested sustainable development strategies for TKM ODA. Through its expansion, TKM could contribute to the advancement of global traditional medicine and its overall engagement in healthcare.

Technical and Vocational Education and Training toward Sustainable Development of Japan’s Aid Effectiveness for Industrial Human Resource Development in Lower Mekong Basin Countries

The Official Development Assistance (ODA) is Japan’s salient foreign policy in the Lower Mekong Basin (LMB) Country, especially for industrial human resource development. Japan has established KOSEN, a Japanese engineering vocational education system in the region to promote the industrial acceleration agenda and the region’s economic, social development, and poverty reduction toward the 2030 Agenda of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). However, ODA is about more than giving and receiving; it is about actors and administration, including the vis-à-vis mutual benefit for both donor and recipient country, which becomes a debatable issue. This research intends to shed light on the efficacy of Japanese ODA toward LMB by applying the principles of the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness (2005) and its impact on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) attainment. A qualitative technique with a deductive approach was used to analyze the efficiency of Japan’s aid for KOSEN, including an in-depth interview with a purposive sampling technique of three key informants in this study. The study showed that the donor country predominantly adheres to the assistance ownership concept. Nonetheless, developing the KOSEN system as an assistance program in the area can contribute to the SDGs as hard tool mechanisms and KOSEN values as a soft mechanism related to the 2012 Global Agenda for Greening TVET.

What explains foreign portfolio investment inflows to BRICS countries?

Large and volatile foreign portfolio investment (FPI) inflows raise financial instability concerns and create several macroeconomic challenges for developing countries. Identifying the factors driving FPI inflows is therefore essential for formulating appropriate policies to manage these inflows efficiently. This study uses a GM-FMOLS panel cointegration approach to examine and identify such factors for BRICS countries, the leading recipients of FPI inflows among all developing countries. The study finds that the 10-year US Treasury bond yield exerts a significant negative influence on FPI inflows. These bonds provide risk-free long-term returns to portfolio investors; hence, a rise in the yield on such bonds prompts them to readjust their portfolios away from assets in developing countries to US Treasuries, leading to a decline in FPI inflows. The study further finds that a thriving domestic stock market, a higher interest rate differential, an appreciating domestic currency, an improvement in the recipient country’s creditworthiness, and a greater degree of trade openness are conducive to FPI inflows. However, a rising consumer price index, higher foreign output growth, and greater global financial volatility discourage these inflows.

Medical Diplomacy: North-South Korea's Diplomatic Rivalry and Medical Cooperation with Third World in the 1960~70s

Korean medical personnel migrated across the globe since 1964, including Africa. However, analyses of the transnational nature of Korean medicine have largely focused on the influence of Korea as a recipient, particularly the United States. This study attempts to understand the formation of Korean medicine in a wider geographical space, beyond the entrenched dichotomy of donor and recipient countries, which has often been centered on the United States or Japan. This paper examines how the diplomatic competition between North and South Korea unfolded in the geopolitical context of the Cold War and how medicine was mobilized to achieve its goals. In the 1960s, medical diplomacy was effective in establishing diplomatic relations and gaining the cooperation of recipient ‘Third World’ countries. In the 1970s, however, South Korea's episodic medical aid was no longer well-received in the face of aggressive North Korean aid, and South Korean medical missions became more of an ‘export’ rather than ‘cooperation’.