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Growth, Governance and Corruption in the Presence of Threshold Effects: Theory and Evidence

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  • Aidt, T.
  • Dutta, J.
  • Vania Sena

Abstract

We study the joint determination of corruption and economic growth. Our model can generate multiple equilibria when complementarity between corruption and growth is sufficiently strong. Our estimates of the impact of corruption on growth take into account that corruption is endogenous and that there may exist different growth/corruption regimes. In a cross section of countries in the 1990s,we identify two regimes, conditional on the quality of political institutions. In the regime with high quality political institutions, corruption has a negative impact on growth. In the regime with low quality institutions, corruption has, overall, little impact on growth, but, if anything, the impact is, surprisingly, positive.

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  • Aidt, T. & Dutta, J. & Vania Sena, 2005. "Growth, Governance and Corruption in the Presence of Threshold Effects: Theory and Evidence," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 0540, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
    • Handle: RePEc:cam:camdae:0540
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    2. Ugur, Mehmet & Dasgupta, Nandini, 2011. "Corruption and economic growth: A meta-analysis of the evidence on low-income countries and beyond," MPRA Paper 31226, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 31 May 2011.
    3. Ben Hamouda, Abderrazek, 2018. "La qualité de gouvernance et le triangle croissance-inégalité-pauvreté [The relationship between growth-inequality-poverty triangle and governance]," MPRA Paper 92207, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Mehmet Ugur, 2014. "Corruption'S Direct Effects On Per-Capita Income Growth: A Meta-Analysis," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(3), pages 472-490, July.
    5. Levy, Daniel, 2007. "Price adjustment under the Table: Evidence on Efficiency-Enhancing Corruption," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 23(2), pages 423-447.
    6. Aidt, Toke S. & Dutta, Jayasri, 2007. "Policy myopia and economic growth," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 23(3), pages 734-753, September.
    7. Maria Del Mar Salinas-Jimenez & Javier Salinas-Jimenez, 2006. "Corruption and Productivity Growth in OECD Countries," ERSA conference papers ersa06p99, European Regional Science Association.
    8. Jaćimović, Danijela & Karadžić, Vesna & Bošković, Tatjana, 2008. "Quality of governance as measured by World Bank indicators for the region of south-east Europe," SEER Journal for Labour and Social Affairs in Eastern Europe, Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG, vol. 11(4), pages 485-502.
    9. Biru Paksha Paul, 2010. "Does corruption foster growth in Bangladesh?," International Journal of Development Issues, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 9(3), pages 246-262, September.
    10. Mohammed TOUITOU & Ahmed BOUDEGHDEGH, 2021. "Estimating the relationship between governance, economic growth, inequality and poverty," Theoretical and Applied Economics, Asociatia Generala a Economistilor din Romania / Editura Economica, vol. 0(3(628), A), pages 115-128, Autumn.
    11. Ahmed Sakr Ashour & Hoda Saad AboRemila, 2019. "A Conceptual Analysis of Macro Corruption: Dimensions and Forward and Backward Linkages," Journal of Public Administration and Governance, Macrothink Institute, vol. 9(2), pages 277-299, December.
    12. Jun Wen & Mingbo Zheng & Gen-Fu Feng & Sunwu Winfred Chen & Chun-Ping Chang, 2018. "Corruption And Innovation: Linear And Nonlinear Investigations Of Oecd Countries," The Singapore Economic Review (SER), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 65(01), pages 103-129, July.

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    Keywords

    Growth; corruption; threshold effects; governance; democracy; corruption.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
    • D82 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Asymmetric and Private Information; Mechanism Design

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