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Corruption and climate change policies: do the bad old days matter?

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  • Fredriksson, Per G.
  • Neumayer, Eric

Abstract

We study the effect of countries’ historical legacy with corruption on recent climate change policies and on global cooperation. Current policy outcomes build on policy choices made in previous years, and these choices were likely affected by the degree of corruption at the time. Our empirical findings using data for up to 131 countries suggest that accumulated historical experience with corruption is important for today’s policy outcomes, and appears to be more important than the current level of corruption.

Suggested Citation

  • Fredriksson, Per G. & Neumayer, Eric, 2016. "Corruption and climate change policies: do the bad old days matter?," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 64180, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    • Handle: RePEc:ehl:lserod:64180
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    Cited by:

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    3. Afrifa, Godfred Adjapong & Tingbani, Ishmael & Yamoah, Fred & Appiah, Gloria, 2020. "Innovation input, governance and climate change: Evidence from emerging countries," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    4. Giorgos Galanis & Giorgio Ricchiuti & Ben Tippet, 2022. "The Global Political Economy of a Green Transition," Working Papers - Economics wp2022_22.rdf, Universita' degli Studi di Firenze, Dipartimento di Scienze per l'Economia e l'Impresa.
    5. Varvarigos, Dimitrios, 2023. "Cultural persistence in corruption, economic growth, and the environment," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 147(C).
    6. Mavisakalyan, Astghik & Tarverdi, Yashar, 2019. "Gender and climate change: Do female parliamentarians make difference?," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 151-164.
    7. Yanlei Zhang, 2021. "Greasing Dirty Machines: Evidence of Pollution-Driven Bribery in China," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 170(1), pages 53-74, April.
    8. Madhu Sehrawat & Sanjay Kumar Singh, 2021. "Do Corruption and Income Inequality Play Spoilsport in The Energy Efficiency-Growth Relationship in BRICS Countries?," Journal of Quantitative Economics, Springer;The Indian Econometric Society (TIES), vol. 19(4), pages 727-746, December.
    9. Karim, Sitara & Appiah, Michael & Naeem, Muhammad Abubakr & Lucey, Brian M. & Li, Mingxing, 2022. "Modelling the role of institutional quality on carbon emissions in Sub-Saharan African countries," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 198(C), pages 213-221.
    10. Román-Aso, Juan A. & Bellido, Héctor & Olmos, Lorena, 2024. "Does corruption pollute the wheel? An analysis for OECD countries," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 223(C).
    11. Astghik Mavisakalyan & Vladimir Otrachshenko & Olga Popova, 2023. "Does democracy protect the environment? The role of the Arctic Council," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 176(5), pages 1-21, May.
    12. Haiqing Hu & Di Chen & Chun‐Ping Chang & Yin Chu, 2021. "The Political Economy Of Environmental Consequences: A Review Of The Empirical Literature," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(1), pages 250-306, February.
    13. Huynh, Cong Minh & Le, Quoc Nha & Lam, Thi Huong Tra, 2023. "Is air pollution a government failure or a market failure? Global evidence from a multi-dimensional analysis," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 173(C).
    14. Arminen, Heli & Menegaki, Angeliki N., 2019. "Corruption, climate and the energy-environment-growth nexus," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 621-634.
    15. Donatella Baiardi & Simona Scabrosetti, 2020. "Does the quality of political institutions matter for the effectiveness of environmental taxes? An empirical analysis on CO2 emissions," Working Paper series 20-25, Rimini Centre for Economic Analysis.
    16. Zhou, Mengling & Wang, Bing & Chen, Zhongfei, 2020. "Has the anti-corruption campaign decreased air pollution in China?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    17. Nabamita Dutta & Saibal Kar & Israt Jahan, 2024. "Environmental policy implementation, gender, and corruption," Economics of Governance, Springer, vol. 25(2), pages 257-290, June.
    18. Mavisakalyan, Astghik & Tarverdi, Yashar & Weber, Clas, 2018. "Talking in the present, caring for the future: Language and environment," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(4), pages 1370-1387.
    19. Andres Jerson Millan Lopez, 2024. "Institutional Corruption Observed from Space," Sobre México. Revista de Economía, Sobre México. Temas en economía, vol. 1(9), pages 55-82.
    20. Lee, Chien-Chiang & Wang, Chih-Wei & Thinh, Bui Tien & Purnama, Muhammad Yusuf Indra & Sharma, Susan Sunila, 2024. "Corporate leverage and leverage speed of adjustment: Does environmental policy stringency matter?," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Corruption; History; International public goods; Climate change; Environmental policy;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H11 - Public Economics - - Structure and Scope of Government - - - Structure and Scope of Government
    • H23 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Externalities; Redistributive Effects; Environmental Taxes and Subsidies
    • H4 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods
    • Q54 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Climate; Natural Disasters and their Management; Global Warming
    • Q58 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environmental Economics: Government Policy

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