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Corruption as a Self‐Fulfilling Prophecy: Evidence from a Survey Experiment in Costa Rica

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  • Ana Corbacho
  • Daniel W. Gingerich
  • Virginia Oliveros
  • Mauricio Ruiz‐Vega

Abstract

An influential literature argues that corruption behaves as a self‐fulfilling prophecy. Its central claim is that the individual returns to corruption are a function of the perceived corruptibility of the other members of society. Empirically, this implies that if one were to exogenously increase beliefs about societal levels of corruption, willingness to engage in corruption should also increase. We evaluate this implication by utilizing an information experiment embedded in a large‐scale household survey recently conducted in the Gran Área Metropolitana of Costa Rica. Changes in beliefs about corruption were induced via the random assignment of an informational display depicting the increasing percentage of Costa Ricans who have personally witnessed an act of corruption. Consistent with the self‐fulfilling prophecy hypothesis, we find that internalizing the information from the display on average increased the probability that a respondent would be willing to bribe a police officer by approximately .05 to .10.

Suggested Citation

  • Ana Corbacho & Daniel W. Gingerich & Virginia Oliveros & Mauricio Ruiz‐Vega, 2016. "Corruption as a Self‐Fulfilling Prophecy: Evidence from a Survey Experiment in Costa Rica," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 60(4), pages 1077-1092, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:amposc:v:60:y:2016:i:4:p:1077-1092
    DOI: 10.1111/ajps.12244
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    Cited by:

    1. Christoph Engel, 2016. "Experimental Criminal Law. A Survey of Contributions from Law, Economics and Criminology," Discussion Paper Series of the Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods 2016_07, Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods.
    2. Chapkovski, Philipp, 2022. "Unintended consequences of corruption indices: an experimental approach," MPRA Paper 112598, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Elena Denisova-Schmidt & Martin Huber & Elvira Leontyeva & Anna Solovyeva, 2021. "Combining experimental evidence with machine learning to assess anti-corruption educational campaigns among Russian university students," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 60(4), pages 1661-1684, April.
    4. Maria Kravtsova & Aleksey Oshchepkov, 2019. "Market And Network Corruption," HSE Working papers WP BRP 209/EC/2019, National Research University Higher School of Economics.
    5. Andrew Delios & Edmund J. Malesky & Shu Yu & Griffin Riddler, 2024. "Methodological errors in corruption research: Recommendations for future research," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 55(2), pages 235-251, March.
    6. Lisa Sofie Höckel & Manuel Santos Silva & Tobias Stöhr, 2018. "Can Parental Migration Reduce Petty Corruption in Education?," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 32(1), pages 109-126.
    7. Wu, Tao & Delios, Andrew & Chen, Zhaowei & Wang, Xin, 2023. "Rethinking corruption in international business: An empirical review," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 58(2).
    8. Burgstaller, Lilith & Feld, Lars P. & Pfeil, Katharina, 2022. "Working in the shadow: Survey techniques for measuring and explaining undeclared work," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 200(C), pages 661-671.
    9. Yating Pan & Zhan Shu & Zhipeng Ye, 2023. "Exploring the dynamics of corruption perceptions in sustained anti-corruption campaigns: a survey experiment in China," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 10(1), pages 1-9, December.
    10. Shuguang Jiang & Marie Claire Villeval, 2022. "Dishonesty in Developing Countries -What Can We Learn From Experiments?," Working Papers hal-03899654, HAL.
    11. Hans J. Czap & Natalia V. Czap, 2019. "‘I Gave You More’: Discretionary Power in a Corruption Experiment," Journal of Interdisciplinary Economics, , vol. 32(2), pages 200-217, July.
    12. Andris Zimelis, 2020. "Corruption research: A need for an integrated approach," International Area Studies Review, Center for International Area Studies, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, vol. 23(3), pages 288-306, September.
    13. Engel, Christoph & Zamir, Eyal, 2024. "Is transparency a blessing or a curse? An experimental horse race between accountability and extortionary corruption," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).

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