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Why are corrupt countries less successful in consolidating their budgets?

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  • Arin, K. Peren
  • Chmelarova, Viera
  • Feess, Eberhard
  • Wohlschlegel, Ansgar

Abstract

Following the financial crisis, many countries introduced fiscal stimulus packages making budget consolidations in the future rather challenging. Using a data set for 28 OECD countries spanning the period 1978-2007, we contribute to the literature on success probabilities of consolidation attempts by exploring the impact of corruption, and in particular the interplay of corruption and the choice of the policy instrument. We find that corruption significantly reduces the success rate. When controlling for the change in government expenditures, however, the impact of corruption is insignificant or at least becomes less pronounced. We therefore relate the choice of the fiscal instrument to corruption and find that corrupt countries rely significantly less on expenditure cuts during periods of consolidation attempts. We conclude that international organizations should be careful in observing what corrupt countries do when trying to consolidate their budgets.

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  • Arin, K. Peren & Chmelarova, Viera & Feess, Eberhard & Wohlschlegel, Ansgar, 2011. "Why are corrupt countries less successful in consolidating their budgets?," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(7-8), pages 521-530, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:pubeco:v:95:y:2011:i:7-8:p:521-530
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Corruption Fiscal consolidation Binary choice models;

    JEL classification:

    • E62 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - Fiscal Policy; Modern Monetary Theory
    • E63 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - Comparative or Joint Analysis of Fiscal and Monetary Policy; Stabilization; Treasury Policy
    • H30 - Public Economics - - Fiscal Policies and Behavior of Economic Agents - - - General
    • H63 - Public Economics - - National Budget, Deficit, and Debt - - - Debt; Debt Management; Sovereign Debt

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