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Have you been served, your honor? Yes, thank you, your excellency: the judiciary and political corruption

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  • Khalid Sekkat

    (University of Brussels)

Abstract

Using a sample of 56 countries (28 rich and 28 poor), observed over the period 2004–2013, our paper develops an analysis of the contagion of corruption at the inter-institutional level. More precisely, it examines whether corruption in the justice system is an important factor to explain the expansion of corruption in politics. We find a clear unidirectional causal effect of corruption in the justice system on corruption in parliament. Low corrupt justice induces low corrupt politics. The results are robust to various checks. It appears that reducing corruption in justice alone causes a direct reduction of corruption in politics. Since fighting corruption is very costly, the result highlights the additional benefit of devoting greater resources to curbing judicial corruption.

Suggested Citation

  • Khalid Sekkat, 2022. "Have you been served, your honor? Yes, thank you, your excellency: the judiciary and political corruption," Constitutional Political Economy, Springer, vol. 33(3), pages 326-353, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:copoec:v:33:y:2022:i:3:d:10.1007_s10602-021-09348-4
    DOI: 10.1007/s10602-021-09348-4
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    Cited by:

    1. Khalid Sekkat, 2023. "Does economic growth benefit the poor? The role of institutions and religions," Economics and Politics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(3), pages 892-918, November.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Corruption; Justice; Politics;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • K42 - Law and Economics - - Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behavior - - - Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law
    • P51 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Comparative Economic Systems - - - Comparative Analysis of Economic Systems

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