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Does corruption erode trust in government? Evidence from a recent surge of local scandals in Spain

Author

Listed:
  • Albert Solé-Ollé

    (Universitat de Barcelona & IEB)

  • Pilar Sorribas-Navarro

    (Universitat de Barcelona & IEB)

Abstract

We examine whether a corruption scandal in which the incumbent is implicated undermines trust in local government. We use a novel dataset containing information on local corruption scandals reported in Spain during the period 1999-2009, and data on the level of trust expressed in local politicians drawn from a new survey conducted in late 2009. We use matching methods to improve the identification of the effect of corruption scandals on trust, comparing municipalities affected by a scandal with those presenting similar traits but in which no scandal had been reported. We find that corruption scandals have a marked negative effect on trust in local politicians. This effect is even more marked in the case of individuals that have no ideological attachment to the party accused of corruption and/or who obtain their information from the media. Several falsification tests, based on a sample of corruption scandals reported after the survey had been conducted, confirm the causal interpretation of these results.

Suggested Citation

  • Albert Solé-Ollé & Pilar Sorribas-Navarro, 2014. "Does corruption erode trust in government? Evidence from a recent surge of local scandals in Spain," Working Papers 2014/26, Institut d'Economia de Barcelona (IEB).
    • Handle: RePEc:ieb:wpaper:doc2014-26
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    Cited by:

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    3. Björn Kauder & Niklas Potrafke, 2016. "Supermajorities and Political Rent Extraction," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 69(1), pages 65-81, February.
    4. Marcos Alvarez Diaz & Gonzalo Caballero Miguez & Baltasar Manzano González & José M. Martín Moreno, 2015. "Assessment of Political Situation over the Business Cycle in Spain: A Time Series Analysis," Hacienda Pública Española / Review of Public Economics, IEF, vol. 213(2), pages 41-62, June.
    5. Niklas Potrafke & Felix Rösel, 2016. "A Banana Republic? Trust in Electoral Institutions in Western Democracies - Evidence from a Presidential Election in Austria," CESifo Working Paper Series 6254, CESifo.
    6. Germà Bel & Francisco González-Gómez & Andrés J. Picazo-Tadeo, 2015. "“Political connections, corruption, and privatization of public services: Evidence from contracting out water services in Spain”," IREA Working Papers 201515, University of Barcelona, Research Institute of Applied Economics, revised Jun 2015.
    7. Gianmarco Daniele & Benny Geys, 2015. "Exposing politicians’ ties to criminal organizations: the effects of local government dissolutions on electoral outcomes in southern Italian municipalities," Working Papers 2015/41, Institut d'Economia de Barcelona (IEB).
    8. Kim, Sahrok & Praveen Parboteeah, K. & Cullen, John B. & Jeong, Nara, 2022. "Social institutions approach to women’s firm ownership and firm bribery activity: A study of small-sized firms in emerging markets," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 144(C), pages 1333-1349.
    9. John E. Anderson, 2017. "Trust in Government and Willingness to Pay Taxes in Transition Countries," Comparative Economic Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Association for Comparative Economic Studies, vol. 59(1), pages 1-22, March.
    10. Elena Costas-Pérez, 2014. "Political corruption and voter turnout: mobilization or disaffection?," Working Papers 2014/27, Institut d'Economia de Barcelona (IEB).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Corruption; trust;

    JEL classification:

    • P16 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Capitalist Economies - - - Capitalist Institutions; Welfare State
    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior

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