Title: The Corrosive Effects of Corruption on Political Trust
Abstract: ABSTRACT.Considerable research attention has focused on the potential negative consequence of corruption, the possible economic effects of corruption, the political and social consequences of corruption, and the effects of corruption on sustainable economic development. The theory that I shall seek to elaborate here puts considerable emphasis on the corrosive effects of corruption on people's trust in the actors and institutions of government, the effects of public-sector corruption on attitudes related to political support, the consequences of corruption on growth in GDP per capita, and the links among welfare, sustainable development, and corruption.JEL Classification: D73, D72, F59Keywords: political, social, corruption, government, economic development1. IntroductionThere have been few comprehensive assessments of what research has learned about the impact of corrupt officials on ordinary citizens, the costs of corruption and poor governance, the underlying causes of corruption and weak governance, and the role of income and wealth as both a cause and a consequence of corruption. In this paper I am particularly interested in exploring the impact of democracy on corruption, the underlying conditions that create corrupt incentives, the propensity of the public employee to engage in corrupt behavior, and the relationship between regulations, institutions, and corruption. The purpose of this paper is to gain a deeper understanding of the nexus between institutional trust as a function of the interaction of educational achievement and corruption, public perceptions of increased corruption, corruption as a key factor hampering socioeconomic policies, and the harmful effects of corruption.2. The Effects of Corruption on Sustainable Economic DevelopmentAidt takes a critical look at the link between corruption and economic development. Corruption is a persistent feature of human societies, affecting adversely many of the proxy causes of economic growth, and may have little average effect on the growth rate of real GDP per capita. High levels of corruption go hand in hand with a lack of political accountability and with disrespect for property rights. There is a strong negative correlation between corruption and growth in genuine wealth per capita, applying equally to perceived corruption and to managers' actual experience with corruption. The greasing the wheels hypothesis presumes that corruption can help in situations where other aspects of governance are deficient and/or economic policy is inefficient: the relationship between corruption and economic growth must be conditional on governance structures and/or economic policy.That is to say, the relationship should be non-monotonic with positive growth effects at low levels of corruption only. Isolated instances of corruption are supposed to help entrepreneurs. The positive growth differential between countries with medium and low levels of corruption is not statistically significant. Aidt analyzes whether there exists a link between corruption, both perceived and actual, and growth in genuine wealth per capita. Both actual and perceived corruption are negatively related to growth in genuine wealth per capita. Corruption is a hindrance for sustainable development. Societies with high levels of corruption run down their genuine wealth and put their economies on a path with declining intertemporal welfare.1Villoria et al. examine empirically the link between government corruption and the attitudes and behaviors of citizens in Spain (corruption in local government has become an important and increasingly recognized problem in Spain): corruption often negatively affects the functioning of legal mechanisms, and constitutes a fundamental problem for democracy, representing a risk for emerging democracies and an obstacle to the sustainability of political institutions and the enforcement of the rule of law there are social consequences of corruption in a political environment characterized by the reinforcement of political disaffection). …
Publication Year: 2013
Publication Date: 2013-03-01
Language: en
Type: article
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Cited By Count: 4
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