The First Tranche

All Blog Posts

How China’s lending activities affect the political survival of leaders A new AidData Working Paper explores how the co-occurrence of Chinese loans and IMF programs affects leader tenure, finding that Beijing’s loans prolong the tenure of leaders—especially if they are corrupt.  Andreas Kern, Bernhard Reinsberg, and Patrick E. Shea
2022-05-16

How China’s lending activities affect the political survival of leaders

A new AidData Working Paper explores how the co-occurrence of Chinese loans and IMF programs affects leader tenure, finding that Beijing’s loans prolong the tenure of leaders—especially if they are corrupt. 

Photo by Simone D. McCourtie/World Bank via Flickr, licensed under (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0).
Competing visions for the Indian Ocean: China’s influence in South and Central Asia China has positioned itself as an indispensable partner for the Maldives and Sri Lanka, adapting economic tools to advance multiple objectives. What are the implications? Samantha Custer
2022-05-12

Competing visions for the Indian Ocean: China’s influence in South and Central Asia

China has positioned itself as an indispensable partner for the Maldives and Sri Lanka, adapting economic tools to advance multiple objectives. What are the implications?

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa and Chinese President Xi Jinping inspect the model structure of the Chinese-financed Colombo port city project at the official commissioning ceremony in 2014. Photo by Mahinda Rajapaska via Flickr, licensed under (CC BY-NC 2.0).
Banking on Beijing: The Aims and Impacts of China's Overseas Development Program A new 400-page book from five leading scholars chronicles China’s transformation—in the space of a generation—from a net recipient to a dominant provider of international development finance. Alex Wooley
2022-05-05

Banking on Beijing: The Aims and Impacts of China's Overseas Development Program

A new 400-page book from five leading scholars chronicles China’s transformation—in the space of a generation—from a net recipient to a dominant provider of international development finance.

How we constructed the world’s largest dataset on China’s overseas spending A behind-the-scenes look at AidData’s latest methodology to track underreported financial flows from China to the developing world. Kyra Solomon, Bradley C. Parks
2022-04-12

How we constructed the world’s largest dataset on China’s overseas spending

A behind-the-scenes look at AidData’s latest methodology to track underreported financial flows from China to the developing world.

A vessel arrives at the Port of Djibouti in October 2019. The port was partially owned and operated by DP World and China Merchants Holdings, until its container facility was seized by the government of Djibouti in February 2018. Photo by Davide Monteleone, all rights reserved; used by AidData with permission.
Testing transparency’s benefits: When does it truly improve how institutions perform? New research in the American Journal of Political Science tests how aid transparency initiatives impact project performance, using a novel dataset of 20,000+ project ratings. Sarina Patterson
2022-03-28

Testing transparency’s benefits: When does it truly improve how institutions perform?

New research in the American Journal of Political Science tests how aid transparency initiatives impact project performance, using a novel dataset of 20,000+ project ratings.

A photo of a crowd of people at the World Bank's IMF Spring Meeting.
Global insights with national implications: AidData’s policy engagements on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor A new AidData policy brief explores the growing debt sustainability challenges of CPEC, a portfolio of Chinese-funded infrastructure projects in Pakistan worth $62 billion. Alex Wooley
2022-03-22

Global insights with national implications: AidData’s policy engagements on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor

A new AidData policy brief explores the growing debt sustainability challenges of CPEC, a portfolio of Chinese-funded infrastructure projects in Pakistan worth $62 billion.

On November 2, 2021, Dr. Ammar A. Malik, senior research scientist at AidData, delivered a seminar in Islamabad, Pakistan hosted by the Islamabad Policy Research Institute, presenting key findings from Banking on the Belt and Road, including policy implications for Pakistan. Source: https://tinyurl.com/ya8ob6qy
AidData publishes a controversial $200m Chinese loan contract for Uganda’s main airport A source of international concern, the loan contract shows China Eximbank does not have any legal grounds to seize Entebbe International Airport—but it has required the Government of Uganda to keep cash collateral in an escrow account that can be seized in the event of default. Brad Parks, Ammar Malik, Alex Wooley
2022-02-27

AidData publishes a controversial $200m Chinese loan contract for Uganda’s main airport

A source of international concern, the loan contract shows China Eximbank does not have any legal grounds to seize Entebbe International Airport—but it has required the Government of Uganda to keep cash collateral in an escrow account that can be seized in the event of default.

A Bombardier CRJ-900 aircraft operated by Uganda Airlines arrives at Mogadishu on its maiden flight from Entebbe Airport on August 29, 2019. Photo by AMISOM Public Information via Flickr, in the public domain.
Eyes in the sky: The evolving use of drones in international development efforts AidData’s Geospatial Scientist Kunwar Singh on how drones are helping revolutionize aspects of international development research. Monica Maher, Sarina Patterson
2022-02-02

Eyes in the sky: The evolving use of drones in international development efforts

AidData’s Geospatial Scientist Kunwar Singh on how drones are helping revolutionize aspects of international development research.

Drones in use to monitor rice crops at CIAT's headquarters in Colombia. Photo by CIAT via Flickr, licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.
Explore new updates to AidData’s Chinese public diplomacy dashboard A new video shows how to get subnational data on Beijing’s financial diplomacy, and generate granular country profiles to compare and contrast China’s overtures between and within countries. Sarina Patterson
2021-12-22

Explore new updates to AidData’s Chinese public diplomacy dashboard

A new video shows how to get subnational data on Beijing’s financial diplomacy, and generate granular country profiles to compare and contrast China’s overtures between and within countries.

AidData's China's Public Diplomacy Dashboard, showing subnational financial diplomacy commitments across South and Central Asia.
Call for Papers—Separating fact from fiction: China’s growing global influence and its implications In June 2022, William & Mary will convene a select group of policymakers, scholars, business and civil society leaders from around the globe to better understand China’s growing reach and influence. AidData
2021-12-17

Call for Papers—Separating fact from fiction: China’s growing global influence and its implications

In June 2022, William & Mary will convene a select group of policymakers, scholars, business and civil society leaders from around the globe to better understand China’s growing reach and influence.

New report on Beijing's efforts to cultivate influence amidst rival powers in South and Central Asia AidData today released an extensive new study on China's public diplomacy efforts to win over foreign leaders and publics along the Silk Road, in what Beijing considers its “greater periphery.” Sarina Patterson
2021-12-13

New report on Beijing's efforts to cultivate influence amidst rival powers in South and Central Asia

AidData today released an extensive new study on China's public diplomacy efforts to win over foreign leaders and publics along the Silk Road, in what Beijing considers its “greater periphery.”

In November 2020, the leaders of Shanghai Cooperation Organization member states (including China, India, Pakistan, and Russia) held a meeting via video conference. Photo from the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, under fair use.
The largest update yet to GeoQuery, AidData’s free spatial data platform New data on Chinese development finance, and data at monthly intervals for frequently-used datasets. Sasan Faraj, Seth Goodman
2021-11-15

The largest update yet to GeoQuery, AidData’s free spatial data platform

New data on Chinese development finance, and data at monthly intervals for frequently-used datasets.