Paper short abstract:

Our research considers how OECD donors should respond to rising Chinese ODA efforts to encourage greater trilateral cooperation.

Paper long abstract:

The OECD has long promoted the better integration and coordination of donor aid efforts to little success. We argue that this outcome is inevitable as donor motives are heterogenous whereas directives are generic for all donors. Considering to what extent OECD donors compete with ODA extended by China, the analysis presented in this paper disaggregates donors into two groups, ‘neoliberal’ and ‘traditional’. We hypothesize only ‘neoliberal’ donors will respond competitively to an increase in Chinese ODA, which is is found to hold true. As such, we suggest that ‘neoliberal’ donors should be leading the charge among OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) donors to engage with China given their more akin donor preferences.