Objective . Three competing explanations for the distribution of Japan's ODA in Asia are empirically examined in this paper. The first explanation hypothesizes that Japan reacts to US pressure and interests as it formulates its foreign aid policy. The competing explanations argue that Japanese ODA is used to promote Japan's national economic interests or humanitarian goals. Methods . We examine the determinants of Japanese ODA in 14 Asian countries for the period of 1979–1998. The effects of the independent variables are estimated using ordinary least squares (OLS) with panel-corrected standard errors. Results . US strategic interests were found to have no effect on aid disbursements for the period in question. Rather, we find that Japan's national economic interests have shaped Japanese aid decisions in Asia. The disbursement pattern of Japanese ODA is also influenced by poverty in the recipient country. Employing measures from the Political Terror Scale, Freedom House, and Polity IV, we find no effect for democracy or human rights.
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John P. Tuman (2005) studied this question.