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Republic of beliefs: An experimental investigation✰

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  • Dasgupta, Utteeyo
  • Radoniqi, Fatos

Abstract

The success of a country's anti-corruption policy can crucially depend on its citizens’ beliefs about the existing legal environment. We test this key idea due to Basu (2020) using a novel experiment design. Our results suggest that Basu's “Republic of Beliefs” idea provides a critical insight in policy formulation; Merely introducing an anti-corruption law need not be sufficient in pushing the country towards the desired equilibrium, especially in developing countries, where the existing legal enforcement machinery has severe scopes of leakages.

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  • Dasgupta, Utteeyo & Radoniqi, Fatos, 2023. "Republic of beliefs: An experimental investigation✰," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 214(C), pages 30-43.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jeborg:v:214:y:2023:i:c:p:30-43
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jebo.2023.07.027
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Republic of beliefs; Harassment bribery; Tower of legal hierarchy; Experiment;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C91 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Laboratory, Individual Behavior
    • D02 - Microeconomics - - General - - - Institutions: Design, Formation, Operations, and Impact
    • K42 - Law and Economics - - Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behavior - - - Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law

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