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Does Corruption Have Social Roots? The Role of Culture and Social Capital

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  • José Pena López
  • José Sánchez Santos

Abstract

The aim of this work is to analyse the influence of sociocultural factors on corruption levels. Taking as starting point Husted (J Int Bus Studies 30:339–359, 1999 ) and Graeff (In: Lambsdorff J, Taube M, Schramm M (eds) The new institutional economics of corruption. Routledge, London, 2005 ) proposals, we consider both the interrelation between cultural dimensions and the diverse expressions of social capital with corruption. According to our results, the universalistic trust (linking and bridging social capital) constitutes a positive social capital that is negatively linked to corruption. In contrast, the particularistic levels of trust (bonding) can constitute a negative social capital directly related to corruption levels. Furthermore, cultures which are favourable to the legitimation of dependency relations and the formation of closed particularistic groups (power-distance and community factors) create a breeding ground for the development of these amoral rent-seeking structures. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2014

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  • José Pena López & José Sánchez Santos, 2014. "Does Corruption Have Social Roots? The Role of Culture and Social Capital," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 122(4), pages 697-708, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:122:y:2014:i:4:p:697-708
    DOI: 10.1007/s10551-013-1789-9
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