Replication Data for: Beyond Recipient Needs and Donor Self-Interests: Third-Kind Relational Drivers of Italy’s Aid Policy in Africa

The data and the code included in this dataset can be used to reproduce the findings of the research article by Corda, T., Carbone, G., and Mella, C. (2026). "Beyond Recipient Needs and Donor Self-Interests: Third-Kind Relational Drivers of Italy’s Aid Policy in Africa", Journal of Development Studies, online first, DOI:10.1080/00220388.2026.2689337. The dataset contains country-year data on official development aid allocated by Italy to African recipient countries and on diplomatic visits between Italy and African states, covering the period 1960-2024. Bilateral aid variables, drawn from OECD DAC, include both commitments and actual disbursements; diplomatic visit data come from Corda and Casiraghi (2025). The dataset also includes donor-recipient-year aid flows from other global donors to the same African recipients, drawn from the Formal Bilateral Influence Capacity index (FBIC), along with other country-level controls, all used to study the relationship between diplomatic engagement and aid allocation. The data are provided in Stata format (dataverse_dta.dta). By running the accompanying do-file code (dataverse_dofile.dofile), you will be able to replicate the analysis of the article and reproduce its regression tables and related figures. The analysis was carried out on Stata Now/MP 19.5. You need to have installed Stata to open and use the data and code provided. Stata, Stata Now/MP 19.5