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The determinants of public opinion on foreign aid in donor countries have received little attention. This paper examines support for foreign aid with a large, multi-level, cross-national study. Hypotheses are tested with multi-level models, including both individual-level and country-level variables, to predict positive attitudes. Two datasets are used to measure attitudes in donor countries: (1) the 1995 World Values Survey, which has information from approximately 6,000 individuals in nine countries and asks a rich battery of questions at the individual level; (2) the 2002 Gallup Voice of the People survey, asks fewer questions of individuals but contains 17 donor countries. Using both surveys combines their distinct strengths and allows tests of individual- and national-level theories across disparate samples. Results generally support the predictions that attitudes toward aid are influenced by religiosity, beliefs about the causes of poverty, awareness of international affairs, and trust in people and institutions.
Paxton et al. (Thu,) studied this question.