While one study by Kishi and Raleigh asserts a distinct, statistically significant positive association between Chinese official finance and repression, no quantitative comparative study has been conducted on the effects of Chinese and traditional official finance on public demonstrations in the form of protests and riots. The working paper on which this policy brief is based reassesses the effects of Chinese and traditional official finance on repression after rectifying some biases I identified in Kishi and Raleigh’s study. Notable among the biases is the study’s exclusion of analysis relating to recent (post—2013) years which have witnessed nascent reforms to Beijing’s foreign aid policy that, ostensibly, induce checks against misuse of Chinese official finance.
