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Causes of corruption: a survey of cross-country analyses and extended results

Economics of Governance volume 9, pages 245–263 (2008)Cite this article

Abstract

We survey and assess the empirical literature on the sources of corruption Thanks to the improved availability of data, we are able to produce an improved cross-country econometric model to test well-established and more recent hypotheses jointly. We do not find that the common law system, or a past as a British colony predicts corruption. Our results support cultural theories on the causes of corruption, and suggest that a medium-long exposure to uninterrupted democracy is associated with lower corruption levels, while political instability tends to raise corruption. Our results also suggest that the diffusion of newspapers helps to lower corruption levels.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Social Studies (ISS), Kortenaerkade 12, 2518 AX, The Hague, The Netherlands

    Lorenzo Pellegrini

  2. Institute for Environmental Studies (IVM), Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Lorenzo Pellegrini & Reyer Gerlagh

  3. School of Social Sciences, Economics, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK

    Reyer Gerlagh

Authors
  1. Lorenzo Pellegrini
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  2. Reyer Gerlagh
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Correspondence to Lorenzo Pellegrini.

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Pellegrini, L., Gerlagh, R. Causes of corruption: a survey of cross-country analyses and extended results. Econ Gov 9, 245–263 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10101-007-0033-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10101-007-0033-4

Keywords

  • Corruption
  • Ethnolinguistic fractionalization
  • Democracy
  • Political instability

JEL Classification

  • D72
  • H11
  • H50
  • K42
  • O17