Corruption and inequality

Arbeitspapier

Economic inequality provides a fertile breeding ground for corruption and, in turn, leads to further inequalities. Most corruption models focus on the institutional determinants of government dishonesty. However, such accounts are problematic. Corruption is remarkably sticky over time. There is a very powerful correlation between crossnational measures corruption in 1980 and in 2004. In contrast, measures of democracy such as the Freedom House scores are not so strongly correlated over time, and changes in corruption are unrelated to changes in institutional design. On the other hand, inequality and trust-like corruption are also sticky over time. The connection between inequality and the quality of government is not necessarily so simple. The aggregate relationships between inequality and corruption are not strong. The path from inequality to corruption may be indirect, through generalized trust, but the connection is key to understanding why some societies are more corrupt than others. This study estimates a simultaneous equation model of trust, corruption, perceptions of inequality, confidence in government, and demands for redistribution in Romania, and shows that perceptions of rising inequality and corruption lead to lower levels of trust and demands for redistribution. – corruption ; inequality ; trust ; transition

Object Details

• ISBN: 9291908029
• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: WIDER Research Paper ; No. 2006/34

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; General Welfare; Well-Being ; Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law ; Socialist Systems and Transitional Economies: Legal Institutions; Illegal Behavior ; Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology; Language; Social and Economic Stratification
• Subject: Korruption ; Einkommensverteilung ; Rumänien

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Uslaner, Eric M.
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): The United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER)
• (where): Helsinki
• (when): 2006

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/63464
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:44 AM CET