IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/pra/mprapa/121373.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Corruption and ethnicity on the African continent: the mediating role of institutions

Author

Listed:
  • Bonga-Bonga, Lumengo
  • Kirsten, Frederich

Abstract

While numerous studies have explored variations in ethnic divisions and corruption outcomes at the macro level, few studies examine whether individual corruption experiences at the micro level vary systematically depending on ethnic group affiliation, particularly when accounting for institutional quality as a mediating factor. This paper investigates the presence of an institutional quality threshold effect between ethnic group affiliation and individual corruption experiences in African countries. We find a threshold effect does exist, revealing that the relationship between ethnic affiliation and corruption experiences shifts once an institutional threshold is reached. Specifically, this transition explain the move from an extortive corruption relationship to collusive co-ethnic corruption dynamic. These insights are vital for policymakers, as they show the significant role of institutions in the micro level impact of ethnic affliction on corruption experiences. This underscores the necessity for targeted anti-corruption strategies that account for institutional heterogeneity across African countries.

Suggested Citation

  • Bonga-Bonga, Lumengo & Kirsten, Frederich, 2024. "Corruption and ethnicity on the African continent: the mediating role of institutions," MPRA Paper 121373, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:121373
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/121373/1/MPRA_paper_121373.pdf
    File Function: original version
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Rasidah Mohd-Rashid & Waqas Mehmood & Chai-Aun Ooi & Siti Zakiah Che Man & Chui Zi Ong, 2022. "Strengthened rule of law to reduce corruption: evidence from Asia-Pacific countries," Journal of Money Laundering Control, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 26(5), pages 989-1006, August.
    2. Buckenmaier, Johannes & Dimant, Eugen & Mittone, Luigi, 2020. "Effects of institutional history and leniency on collusive corruption and tax evasion," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 175(C), pages 296-313.
    3. Jennifer Murtazashvili & Ilia Murtazashvili, 2020. "Wealth-destroying states," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 182(3), pages 353-371, March.
    4. Bryan W Husted, 1999. "Wealth, Culture, and Corruption," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 30(2), pages 339-359, June.
    5. Binhadab, Nouf & Breen, Michael & Gillanders, Robert, 2021. "Press freedom and corruption in business-state interactions," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 45(4).
    6. Banerjee, Abhijit V. & Pande, Rohini, 2007. "Parochial Politics: Ethnic Preferences and Politician Corruption," Working Paper Series rwp07-031, Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government.
    7. Amadou Boly & Maty Konte & Abebe Shimeles, 2021. "Corruption Perception and Attitude Towards Taxation in Africa [To Pay or Not to Pay? Citizens’ Attitudes Toward Taxation in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and South Africa]," Journal of African Economies, Centre for the Study of African Economies, vol. 30(Supplemen), pages 140-157.
    8. Ann-Sofie Isaksson, 2015. "Corruption Along Ethnic Lines: A Study of Individual Corruption Experiences in 17 African Countries," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 51(1), pages 80-92, January.
    9. Billger, Sherrilyn M. & Goel, Rajeev K., 2009. "Do existing corruption levels matter in controlling corruption?: Cross-country quantile regression estimates," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(2), pages 299-305, November.
    10. Mohammad Abdul Munim Joarder & Monir Uddin Ahmed, 2023. "Does natural resource abundance breed corruption? The role of political institutions," SN Business & Economics, Springer, vol. 3(9), pages 1-43, September.
    11. Anthony Liu, 2020. "Collusive corruption in public services: evidence from Chinese state corruption audits," Eurasian Economic Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 10(2), pages 283-307, June.
    12. Danila Serra, 2006. "Empirical determinants of corruption: A sensitivity analysis," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 126(1), pages 225-256, January.
    13. De Luca, Giacomo & Hodler, Roland & Raschky, Paul A. & Valsecchi, Michele, 2018. "Ethnic favoritism: An axiom of politics?," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 115-129.
    14. Pieroni, L. & d'Agostino, G., 2013. "Corruption and the effects of economic freedom," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 54-72.
    15. Benjamin A. Olken & Rohini Pande, 2012. "Corruption in Developing Countries," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 4(1), pages 479-509, July.
    16. Jacob W. Musila, 2013. "Does Democracy Have a Different Impact on Corruption in Africa?," Journal of African Business, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 14(3), pages 162-170, December.
    17. Abeer Khandker, 2015. "The effect of economic freedom on corruption: the case of South Asian countries," International Journal of Economics and Business Research, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 9(4), pages 403-414.
    18. Johannes Buckenmaier & Eugen Dimant & Luigi Mittone, 2016. "Tax Evasion and Institutions. An Experiment on The Role of Principal Witness Regulations," PPE Working Papers 0007, Philosophy, Politics and Economics, University of Pennsylvania.
    19. repec:cup:cbooks:9780521872751 is not listed on IDEAS
    20. Paolo Mauro, 1995. "Corruption and Growth," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 110(3), pages 681-712.
    21. Seim, Brigitte & Robinson, Amanda Lea, 2020. "Coethnicity and Corruption: Field Experimental Evidence from Public Officials in Malawi," Journal of Experimental Political Science, Cambridge University Press, vol. 7(1), pages 61-66, April.
    22. Mahsa Akbari & Duman Bahrami‐Rad & Erik O. Kimbrough & Pedro P. Romero & Sadegh Alhosseini, 2020. "An Experimental Study Of Kin And Ethnic Favoritism," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 58(4), pages 1795-1812, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Mohammed Lazreg & Kamel Si Mohammed, 2019. "Corruption and Democracy in Middle East and North Africa Countries: Dynamic Generalized Method of Moments," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 9(1), pages 60-65.
    2. Jetter, Michael & Parmeter, Christopher F., 2018. "Sorting through global corruption determinants: Institutions and education matter – Not culture," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 279-294.
    3. Gans-Morse, Jordan & Borges, Mariana & Makarin, Alexey & Mannah-Blankson, Theresa & Nickow, Andre & Zhang, Dong, 2018. "Reducing bureaucratic corruption: Interdisciplinary perspectives on what works," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 171-188.
    4. Liu, Tingting & Liu, Yu & Ullah, Barkat & Wei, Zuobao & Xu, Lixin Colin, 2021. "The dark side of transparency in developing countries: The link between financial reporting practices and corruption," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    5. Esteban Alemán Correa & Michael Jetter & Alejandra Montoya Agudelo, 2016. "Corruption: Transcending Borders," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 69(2), pages 183-207, May.
    6. António Afonso & Eduardo Sá Fortes Leitão Rodrigues, 2022. "Corruption and economic growth: does the size of the government matter?," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 55(2), pages 543-576, May.
    7. repec:smu:ecowpa:1301 is not listed on IDEAS
    8. Kotera, Go & Okada, Keisuke & Samreth, Sovannroeun, 2012. "Government size, democracy, and corruption: An empirical investigation," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 29(6), pages 2340-2348.
    9. Blaise Gnimassoun, Joseph Keneck Massil, 2019. "Determinants of corruption: can we put all countries in the same basket?," European Journal of Comparative Economics, Cattaneo University (LIUC), vol. 16(2), pages 239-276, December.
    10. Jamie Bologna & Amanda Ross, 2015. "Corruption and Entrepreneurship: Evidence from a Random Audit Program," Working Papers 15-05, Department of Economics, West Virginia University.
    11. Blaise Gnimassoun & Joseph Keneck Massil, 2016. "Determinants of corruption: Can we put all countries in the same basket?," Working Papers hal-04141599, HAL.
    12. repec:pdn:wpaper:79 is not listed on IDEAS
    13. Kotera, Go & Okada, Keisuke & Samreth, Sovannroeun, 2010. "A study on the relationship between corruption and government size: the role of democracy," MPRA Paper 25015, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    14. Roberto Burguet & Juan-José Ganuza & José García-Montalvo, 2016. "The Microeconomics of Corruption. A Review of Thirty Years of Research," Working Papers 908, Barcelona School of Economics.
    15. d'Agostino, G. & Dunne, J.P. & Pieroni, L., 2016. "Corruption and growth in Africa," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 71-88.
    16. repec:pdn:wpaper:70 is not listed on IDEAS
    17. Sassi, Seifallah & Ben Ali, Mohamed Sami, 2017. "Corruption in Africa: What role does ICT diffusion play," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(7), pages 662-669.
    18. Jayoti Das & Cassandra DiRienzo, 2009. "The Nonlinear Impact Of Globalization On Corruption," The International Journal of Business and Finance Research, The Institute for Business and Finance Research, vol. 3(2), pages 33-46.
    19. Frank Björn & Li Sha & Bühren Christoph & Qin Haiying, 2015. "Group Decision Making in a Corruption Experiment: China and Germany Compared," Journal of Economics and Statistics (Jahrbuecher fuer Nationaloekonomie und Statistik), De Gruyter, vol. 235(2), pages 207-227, April.
    20. Pieroni, L. & d'Agostino, G., 2013. "Corruption and the effects of economic freedom," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 54-72.
    21. Keisuke Okada & Sovannroeun Samreth, 2014. "How Does Corruption Influence the Effect of Foreign Direct Investment on Economic Growth?," Global Economic Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 43(3), pages 207-220, September.
    22. Friedman, Willa, 2018. "Corruption and averting AIDS deaths," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 13-25.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    corruption; co-ethnic; extortive corruption; rule of law;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C1 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods and Methodology: General
    • D71 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Social Choice; Clubs; Committees; Associations
    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:121373. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Joachim Winter (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/vfmunde.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.