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The impacts of corruption on wage inequality and rural–urban migration in developing countries

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  • Jiancai Pi
  • Yu Zhou

Abstract

This paper establishes three-sector general equilibrium models and separately investigates how sector-biased corruption influences the wage rates of skilled and unskilled workers, the wage inequality, and the amount of unskilled rural–urban migrants in developing countries. Corrupt activities are introduced in our theoretical models as transaction costs. We find that the reductions in different sector-biased corrupt behaviors exert different impacts through various economic mechanisms. In addition, the change in urban unskilled unemployment due to the decrease in the degree of sector-biased corruption is also taken into account. Copyright Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2015

Suggested Citation

  • Jiancai Pi & Yu Zhou, 2015. "The impacts of corruption on wage inequality and rural–urban migration in developing countries," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 54(3), pages 753-768, May.
  • Handle: RePEc:spr:anresc:v:54:y:2015:i:3:p:753-768
    DOI: 10.1007/s00168-015-0674-0
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    D73; J31; R23;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D73 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Bureaucracy; Administrative Processes in Public Organizations; Corruption
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • R23 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Household Analysis - - - Regional Migration; Regional Labor Markets; Population

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