How does funding from foreign aid shape public opinion toward development programs? Existing research suggests that citizens of recipient countries prefer aid-funded programs, particularly if they view the domestic government as corrupt and ineffective. However, these studies have been implemented in contexts where major donors are relatively popular. We extend this literature by analyzing attitudes toward foreign aid in the Arab world, where Western donors are often polarizing and disliked. A survey experiment conducted in Egypt provides some evidence that respondents approve less of public health programs when they are funded by the US or French development agencies instead of the Egyptian government. We find that this effect is driven by distrust of Western donors’ motives. Descriptive survey data from the Arab Barometer reinforce the experimental findings by illustrating the importance of anti-Americanism and perceptions of donor motives in heightening opposition to aid. This research note contributes to a growing literature on public opinion toward foreign aid in recipient countries.

中文翻译：

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钱从哪里来？阿拉伯世界对捐助国和外援的态度

外国援助的资金如何影响公众对发展项目的看法？现有研究表明，受援国公民更喜欢由援助资助的项目，特别是如果他们认为国内政府腐败且效率低下。然而，这些研究是在主要捐助者相对受欢迎的情况下实施的。我们通过分析阿拉伯世界对外国援助的态度来扩展这一文献，在阿拉伯世界，西方捐助者经常两极分化和不喜欢。在埃及进行的一项调查实验提供了一些证据，表明当公共卫生项目由美国或法国发展机构而不是埃及政府资助时，受访者对公共卫生项目的认可程度较低。我们发现这种影响是由对西方捐助者动机的不信任驱动的。来自阿拉伯晴雨表的描述性调查数据通过说明反美主义的重要性以及对捐助者动机的看法在加剧反对援助方面的重要性，强化了实验结果。这份研究报告为越来越多关于受援国对外援助的公众舆论做出了贡献。