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Determinants of Corruption in Developing Countries

Author

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  • Ghulam Shabbir

    (Department of Economics, University of the Punjab, Lahore.)

  • Mumtaz Anwar

    (Department of Economics, University of the Punjab, Lahore.)

Abstract

Corruption is not a new phenomenon; we are living with it since the birth of government's institutions. Corruption has two dimensions; public sector corruption and private sector corruption. The public sector corruption means, misuse of public office for private benefits. For cross country analysis, public sector corruption is mainly focused. In this study, we have analyzed the 41 developing countries to investigate the determinants of corruption. Corruption determinants are sub-divided into economic determinants and non-economic determinants. The economic determinants include economic freedom, globalization, level of education, distribution of income and average level of income. The non-economic determinants list consists on press freedom, democracy and share of population affiliated with particular religion. The empirical findings of the study indicates that; all economic determinants are negatively related to the perceived level of corruption except distribution of income and non-economic determinants are not significantly explaining the variations in the level of corruption. This shows that the socio-political and religious norms are so weak that they can not affect the corruption level in these countries. The contribution of religion in people's practical life is very little, so the cultural values of developing countries are not religion based. Therefore, perceived level of corruption is not affected by the religion. This study concluded that government should focus the economic factors to curb the level of corruption.
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Suggested Citation

  • Ghulam Shabbir & Mumtaz Anwar, 2007. "Determinants of Corruption in Developing Countries," The Pakistan Development Review, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, vol. 46(4), pages 751-764.
    • Handle: RePEc:pid:journl:v:46:y:2007:i:4:p:751-764
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    3. Awasthi, Rajul & Bayraktar, Nihal, 2014. "Can tax simplification help lower tax corruption ?," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6988, The World Bank.
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    5. Adefeso, Hammed, 2018. "Corruption, Political Instability and Development Nexus in Africa: A Call for Sequential Policies Reforms," MPRA Paper 85277, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Basem Elmukhtar Ertimi & Abulkasem Dowa & Elham Mohamed Albisht & Basim Aboubaker Oqab, 2016. "The Impact of Corruption on Economic Growth in OIC Countries," International Journal of Economics and Finance, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 8(9), pages 91-103, September.
    7. Hanen Sdiri & Mohamed Ayadi, 2022. "Does Innovation Foster or Mitigate the Corruption Obstacle? Firm-Level Evidence from Tunisia," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 13(1), pages 367-386, March.
    8. Jayoti Das & Cassandra DiRienzo, 2009. "The Nonlinear Impact Of Globalization On Corruption," The International Journal of Business and Finance Research, The Institute for Business and Finance Research, vol. 3(2), pages 33-46.
    9. López-Cazar, Ibeth & Papyrakis, Elissaios & Pellegrini, Lorenzo, 2021. "The Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) and corruption in Latin America: Evidence from Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras, Peru, and Trinidad and Tobago," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    10. Kumara, Ajantha Sisira & Handapangoda, Wasana Sampath, 2014. "Political environment a ground for public sector corruption? Evidence from a cross-country analysis," MPRA Paper 54721, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 22 Mar 2014.
    11. Rajul Awasthi & Nihal Bayraktar, 2015. "Can tax simplification help lower tax corruption?," Eurasian Economic Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 5(2), pages 297-330, December.
    12. Kodila Tedika, Oasis, 2012. "Empirical Survey on the Causes of the Corruption [Aperçu empirique sur les causes de la corruption]," MPRA Paper 41484, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    13. Kodila-Tedika, Oasis, 2012. "Marriage and Corruption : An empirical analysis on european data," MPRA Paper 40311, University Library of Munich, Germany.
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    15. Zeeshan, Muhammad & han, Jiabin & Rehman, Alam & Ullah, Irfan & Hussain, Arif & Alam Afridi, Fakhr E., 2022. "Exploring symmetric and asymmetric nexus between corruption, political instability, natural resources and economic growth in the context of Pakistan," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    16. Yongqiang Gao, 2011. "Government Intervention, Perceived Benefit, and Bribery of Firms in Transitional China," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 104(2), pages 175-184, December.
    17. Dwiputri, Inayati Nuraini & Arsyad, Lincolin & Pradiptyo, Rimawan, 2018. "The corruption-income inequality trap: A study of Asian countries," Economics Discussion Papers 2018-81, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    18. Nugroho S. B. Maria & Indah Susilowati & Salman Fathoni & Izza Mafruhah, 2021. "The Effect of Education and Macroeconomic Variables on Corruption Index in G20 Member Countries," Economies, MDPI, vol. 9(1), pages 1-13, February.
    19. Dufrénot, Gilles & Paret, Anne-Charlotte, 2019. "Power-law distribution in the external debt-to-fiscal revenue ratios: Empirical evidence and a theoretical model," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 341-359.
    20. Saidi, Hichem & El Montasser, Ghassen & Ajmi, Noomen, 2018. "Renewable Energy, Quality of Institutions and Economic Growth in MENA Countries: a Panel Cointegration Approach," MPRA Paper 84055, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    21. GOMADO, Kwamivi Mawuli, 2018. "Diversité ethnique et déforestation dans les pays en développement: identification des principaux canaux [Ethnic diversity and deforestation in developing countries: identifying the transmission ch," MPRA Paper 89380, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    22. Benito, Bernardino & Guillamón, María-Dolores & Ríos, Ana-María & Bastida, Francisco, 2018. "Can salaries and re-election prevent political corruption? An empirical evidence," Revista de Contabilidad - Spanish Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 21(1), pages 19-27.
    23. Ali Acaravci & Seyfettin Artan & Pinar Hayaloglu & Sinan Erdogan, 2023. "Economic and Institutional Determinants of Corruption: The Case of Developed and Developing Countries," Journal of Economics and Finance, Springer;Academy of Economics and Finance, vol. 47(1), pages 207-231, March.
    24. Kodila Tedika, Oasis, 2012. "Consequences De La Corruption : Panorama Empirique [Consequences of Corruption : Empirical survey]," MPRA Paper 41482, University Library of Munich, Germany.

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