Aid Allocation and Asylum Migration

Abstract

In this chapter, the influence of immigrants and asylum seekers on the aid allocation pattern of bilateral donors is investigated. Immigrants constitute a respected interest group in the aid allocation process in the donor country and seek to influence bilateral aid flows in favor of their country of origin. We distinguish between immigrants (with foreign citizenship) living permanently in the donor country and asylum applicants who are non-permanent in their status, but who play an important role as information and ‘urgency indicators’. For Germany, some empirical evidence can be found indicating that permanent immigrants as well as asylum seekers influence the bilateral aid allocation pattern.