Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Spatio-Temporal Dependence of Corruption in Vietnam

  • Published:
Applied Spatial Analysis and Policy Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Corruption levels are clustered in space and time simultaneously, and they differ not only between but also within countries. This study adds to the literature by shedding new light on the cause of corruption. Specifically, it investigates a further question that arises whether there is an effect on the corruption levels of neighboring sub-national regions within a country over time. Using the Dynamic Spatial Durbin models with provincial data during 2006–2017, this paper finds that the corruption levels of a specific province are influenced by both corruption level and its lags of neighboring provinces, and this effect decreases with more considerable geographic distance between provinces. Estimated results also show that the spatio-temporal dependence of corruption levels is explained by spatial externalities, including immigration, provincial governance and policy, but not economic development. These results provide theoretical applications for studying corruption and shed light on anti-corruption policy design in transitional countries where corruption is rampant.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

Data Availability

public availability

Code Availability

No

References

  • Anselin, L. (1988). Spatial econometrics: Methods and models. Kluwer Academic Publishers.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Anselin, L. (2008). Spatial econometrics: Methods and models. Kluwer Academic Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Arbia, G., Battisti, M., & Di Vaio, G. (2010). Institutions and geography: Empirical test of spatial growth models for European regions. Economic Modelling, 27(1), 12–21.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Attila, J. (2008). Is corruption contagious? An econometric analysis. NUPI Working Paper, No. 742.

  • Becker, S., Egger, P. H., & Seidel, T. (2009). Common political culture: Evidence on regional corruption contagion. European Journal of Political Economy, 25(3), 300–310.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Belotti, F., Hughes, G., & Mortari, A. P. (2017). Spatial panel-data models using Stata. The Stata Journal, 17(1), 139–180.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bologna, J. (2017). Contagious corruption, informal employment, and income: Evidence from Brazilian municipalities. The Annals of Regional Science, 58(1), 67–118.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Borsky, S., & Kalkschmied, K. (2019). Corruption in space: A closer look at the world’s subnations. European Journal of Political Economy, 59, 400–422.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Burnham, K. P., & Anderson, D. R. (2004). Multimodel inference: Understanding AIC and BIC in model selection. Sociological Methods & Research, 33(2), 261–304.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Castro, A., Phillips, N., & Ansari, S. (2020). Corporate corruption: A review and an agenda and future research. Academy of Management Annals, 14(2), 935–968.

  • Dimant, E., Krieger, T., & Redlin, M. (2014). A crook is a crook … but is he still a crook abroad? On the effect of immigration on destination-country corruption. German Economic Review, 16(4), 464–489.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Donfouet, H. P. P., Jeanty, P. W., & Malin, E. (2018). Analysing spatial spillovers in corruption: A dynamic spatial panel data approach. Papers in Regional Science, 97, S63–S78.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dong, B., Dulleck, U., & Torgler, B. (2012). Conditional corruption. Journal of Economic Psychology, 33, 609–627.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Elhorst, J. P. (2010). Dynamic Models in Space and Time. Geographical Analysis, 33(2), 119–140.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Elhorst, J. P. (2014). Spatial econometrics: From cross-sectional data to spatial panels. Springer.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Elliott, K. A. (2002). It is widely accepted that corruption is a global problem, and it requires global measures In M. l. Arnold I. Heidenheimer (Ed.), Political Corruption (3rd ed.). Routledge.

  • Goel, R. K., & Nelson, M. A. (2007). Are corrupt acts contagious?: Evidence from the United States. Journal of Policy Modeling, 29(6), 839–850.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gründler, K., & Potrafke, N. (2019). Corruption and economic growth: New empirical evidence. ifo Working Paper, No. 309.

  • Hsiao, C. (2014). Analysis of panel data. Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Husted, B. W. (1994). Honor among thieves: A transaction-cost interpretation of corruption in third world countries. Business Ethics Quarterly, 4(1), 17–27.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jeong, Y., & Weiner, R. J. (2012). Who bribes? Evidence from the United Nations’ oil-forfood program. Strategic Management Journal, 33(12), 1363–1383.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kaufmann, D., & Kraay, A. (2020). Worldwide governance indicator. Retrieved from https://info.worldbank.org/governance/wgi/. Accessed 8 Dec 2020.

  • Lambsdorff, J. G. (2002). Making corrupt deals - Contracting in the shadow of the Law. Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 48(3), 221–241.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lambsdorff, J. G. (2007). The institutional economics of corruption and reform: Theory, evidence and policy. Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Le, Q. C., Nguyen, T. P. T., & Do, T. N. (2021). State ownership, quality of sub-national governance, and total factor productivity of firms in Vietnam. Post-Communist Economies, 33(1), 133–146.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lopez-Valcarcel, B. G., Jiménez, J. L., & Perdiguero, J. (2017). Danger: Local corruption is contagious! Journal of Policy Modeling, 39(5), 790–808.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Márquez, M. A., Salinas-Jiménez, J., & Salinas-Jiménez, Md. M. (2011). Exploring differences in corruption: The role of neighboring countries. Journal of Economic Policy Reform, 14(1), 11–19.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mauro, P. (1995). Corruption and growth. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 110(3), 681–712.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McKinney, J. A., & Moore, C. W. (2008). International bribery: Does a written code of ethics make a difference in perceptions of business professionals. Journal of Business Ethics, 79(1/2), 103–111.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mitchel, A. (2005). The ESRI Guide to GIS analysis, Volume 2: Spartial measurements and statistics. ESRI Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nguyen, P. A., & Le, Q. C. (2021). Socioeconomic status, norms and bribe-giving behaviors among citizens of Vietnam. International Journal of Public Administration, 45(1), 37–48.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nguyen, V. T., Ho, B. D., Le, Q. C., & Nguyen, V. H. (2016). Strategic and transactional costs of corruption: Perspectives from Vietnamese firms. Crime, Law Social Change, 65(4–5), 351–374.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • O’Trakoun, J. (2017). New perspectives on corruption contagion. Journal of International Trade & Economic Development, 26(5), 552–565.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • O’Connor, S., & Fischer, R. (2014). Predicting societal corruption across time: Values, wealth, or institutions? Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 43(4), 644–659.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oliver, C. (1997). Sustainable competitive advantage: Combining institutional and resource-based views. Strategic Management Journal, 18(9), 697–713.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pinto, J., Leana, C. R., & Pil, F. K. (2008). Corrupt organizations or organizations of corrupt Individuals? Two types of organization-level corruption. Academy of Management Review, 33(3), 685–709.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rothstein, B., & Uslaner, E. M. (2005). All for all: Equality, corruption, and social trust. World Politics, 58(1), 41–72.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Seldadyo, H., Elhorst, J. P., & De Haan, J. (2010). Geography and governances: Does space matter? Paper in Regional Science, 89(3), 625–640.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shleifer, A., & Vishny, R. W. (1993). Corruption. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 108(3), 599–617.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Søreide, T. (2009). Too risk averse to stay honest?: Business corruption, uncertainty and attitudes toward risk. International Review of Law and Economics, 29(4), 388–395.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Towards Transparency. (2020). Vietnam Corruption Barometer 2019: Vietnamese citizens' view and experiences of corruption. https://towardstransparency.vn/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/VCB-2019_EN.pdf.

  • Transparency International. (2020). Corruption perception index 2020. https://images.transparencycdn.org/images/CPI2020_Report_EN_0802-WEB-1_2021-02-08-103053.pdf.

  • Treisman, D. (2000). The causes of corruption: A cross-national study. Journal of Public Economics, 76(3), 399–457.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Treisman, D. (2007). What have we learned about the causes of corruption from ten years of cross-national empirical research? Annual Review of Political Science, 10, 211–244.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhou, X., Han, Y., & Wang, R. (2013). An empirical investigation on firms’ proactive and passive motivation for bribery in china. Journal of Business Ethics, 118(3), 461–472.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Funding

This study is supported by the National Foundation for Science and Technology of Vietnam (NAFOSTED) under the research grant 502.01–2019.312.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. VNU University of Economics and Business, 144 Xuan Thuy, Cau Giay, Hanoi, Vietnam

    Chinh Trung Dang

  2. National Economics University, 207 Giai Phong, Ha Ba Trung, Hanoi, Vietnam

    Chinh Trung Dang & Canh Quang Le

Authors
  1. Chinh Trung Dang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Canh Quang Le
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Canh Quang Le.

Ethics declarations

Not applicable

Conflicts of Interest/Competing Interests

No

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Dang, C.T., Le, C.Q. Spatio-Temporal Dependence of Corruption in Vietnam. Appl. Spatial Analysis 15, 1143–1165 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12061-022-09447-1

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12061-022-09447-1

Keywords

JEL Classification

Search

Navigation