Working Paper: CEPR ID: DP6273
Authors: Rohini Pande
Abstract: Building on the large and growing empirical literature on the political behaviour of individuals in low income countries this chapter seeks to understand corruption through the lens of political economy -- particularly in terms of the political and economic differences between rich and poor countries. Our focus is on the political behaviour of individuals exposed to democratic political institutions. We review the existing literature on the determinants of individual political behaviour to ask whether we can understand the choice of political actors to be corrupt and, importantly, of other individuals to permit it, as a rational response to the social or the economic environment they inhabit. We also discuss the implications of this view of corruption for anti-corruption policies.
Keywords: corruption; development
JEL Codes: O12
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| higher poverty levels (I32) | increased pressure to allocate resources politically (D72) |
| increased pressure to allocate resources politically (D72) | more opportunities for corruption (H57) |
| politician identity (D72) | corruption (D73) |
| voters' willingness to dismiss corrupt politicians (D72) | overall incidence of corruption (H57) |
| social norms (Z13) | political behavior (D72) |
| change in ideology (P39) | combat corruption effectively (H57) |