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Can Corruption Erode Confidence in Political Institutions Among European Countries? Comparing the Effects of Different Measures of Perceived Corruption

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  • Alessandro Pellegata

    (Università degli Studi di Milano)

  • Vincenzo Memoli

    (Università degli Studi di Catania)

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to analyze the effects of corruption on institutional confidence through testing alternative perceptions-based indexes of corruption. Scholars who have investigated this topic have often employed only indicators of corruption based on experts’ surveys. In this article we also consider a new index of corruption developed aggregating citizens’ perceptions. The first part of the paper explores the levels of corruption perceived by the citizens of EU member states, stressing the differences with the experts’ opinions. The second part tests, through a multivariate analysis, the impact of citizens’ and experts’ perceptions-based indexes of corruption on institutional confidence. The main results show that experts and citizens tend to express similar opinions on the extent of corruption in EU member states though, especially in some countries, these actors present some noticeable differences. Nevertheless, irrespective of the indexes used, more corrupt countries are characterized by lower levels of confidence in parliament and government. This relationship holds even controlling for the presence of reverse causality between corruption and confidence.

Suggested Citation

  • Alessandro Pellegata & Vincenzo Memoli, 2016. "Can Corruption Erode Confidence in Political Institutions Among European Countries? Comparing the Effects of Different Measures of Perceived Corruption," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 128(1), pages 391-412, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:soinre:v:128:y:2016:i:1:d:10.1007_s11205-015-1036-0
    DOI: 10.1007/s11205-015-1036-0
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    3. Germà Bel, 2019. "“Tax me, but don’t drown me in regulations: Understanding differences in corruption across the countries of Europe"," IREA Working Papers 201920, University of Barcelona, Research Institute of Applied Economics, revised Dec 2019.
    4. Félix J. López-Iturriaga & Iván Pastor Sanz, 2018. "Predicting Public Corruption with Neural Networks: An Analysis of Spanish Provinces," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 140(3), pages 975-998, December.
    5. Sharon Baute, 2023. "Mass Euroscepticism revisited: The role of distributive justice," European Union Politics, , vol. 24(4), pages 625-644, December.
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    7. Hanyu Xiao & Ting Gong & Chilik Yu & Wen-Jong Juang & Baishun Yuan, 2020. "Citizens’ Confidence in Government Control of Corruption: An Empirical Analysis," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 152(3), pages 877-897, December.
    8. Paweł Dec & Jacek Wysocki, 2022. "In Search of Non-Obvious Relationships between Greenhouse Gas or Particulate Matter Emissions, Renewable Energy and Corruption," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-20, February.
    9. Abel François & Nicolas Lagios & Pierre-Guillaume Méon, 2023. "Jurisdiction size and perceived corruption," Working Papers CEB 23-003, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    10. Héctor Bellido & Lorena Olmos & Juan A. Román-Aso, 2021. "The influence of government ideology on corruption: the impact of the Great Recession," Economia Politica: Journal of Analytical and Institutional Economics, Springer;Fondazione Edison, vol. 38(2), pages 677-708, July.
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    12. Germà Bel, 2022. "Beyond government size: Types of government intervention and corruption," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 16(4), pages 1174-1196, October.
    13. Gustavo Gouvêa Maciel & Luís de Sousa, 2018. "Legal Corruption and Dissatisfaction with Democracy in the European Union," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 140(2), pages 653-674, November.
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    15. Anastasia Stathopoulou & Tommy Kweku Quansah & George Balabanis, 2022. "The Blinding Effects of Team Identification on Sports Corruption: Cross-Cultural Evidence from Sub-Saharan African Countries," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 179(2), pages 511-529, August.

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