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Fighting Corruption when Existing Corruption-Control Levels Count: What do Wealth-Effects Tell us in Africa?

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  • Simplice A. Asongu

    (African Governance and Development Institute,)

Abstract

Why are some nations more effective at battling corruption than others? Are there different determinants in the fight against corruption across developing nations? Do income-levels matter in the fight against corruption when existing corruption-control levels also matter? In other words, how does the wealth of nations matter in the fight against corruption when corruption is assessed throughout the conditional distribution of corruption-control from countries with low initial levels of corruption-control to those with high initial levels of corruption-control. To investigate these concerns we examine the determinants of corruption-control throughout the conditional distribution of the fight against corruption. The following broad findings are established: (1) Population growth is a tool in the fight against corruption in Low income countries. (2) Democracy increases corruption-control in Middle income countries. As a policy implication, blanket corruption-control strategies are unlikely to succeed equally across countries with different income levels and political will in the fight against corruption. Thus to be effective, anti-corruption policies should be contingent on the prevailing levels of corruption-control and income-bracket.

Suggested Citation

  • Simplice A. Asongu, 2013. "Fighting Corruption when Existing Corruption-Control Levels Count: What do Wealth-Effects Tell us in Africa?," Institutions and Economies (formerly known as International Journal of Institutions and Economies), Faculty of Economics and Administration, University of Malaya, vol. 5(3), pages 53-74, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:umk:journl:v:5:y:2013:i:3:p:53-74
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    Cited by:

    1. Asongu Simplice, 2012. "Determinants of Health Professionals’ Migration in Africa," Working Papers of the African Governance and Development Institute. 12/009, African Governance and Development Institute..
    2. Simplice Asongu & Oasis Kodila-Tedika, 2016. "Fighting African conflicts and crimes: which governance tools matter?," International Journal of Social Economics, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 43(5), pages 466-485, May.
    3. Simplice Asongu, 2015. "On Taxation, Political Accountability and Foreign Aid: Empirics to a Celebrated Literature," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 83(2), pages 180-198, June.
    4. Simplice A. Asongu & Mohamed Jellal, 2014. "Foreign aid, investment and fiscal policy behavior: theory and empirical evidence," Research Africa Network Working Papers 14/030, Research Africa Network (RAN).
    5. Asongu , Simplice A., 2015. "On the dynamic effects of foreign aid on corruption," European Economic Letters, European Economics Letters Group, vol. 4(1), pages 5-10.
    6. Asongu Simplice, 2014. "Fighting African corruption when existing corruption-control levels matter in a dynamic cultural setting," International Journal of Social Economics, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 41(10), pages 906-922, October.
    7. Asongu Simplice, 2014. "Globalization and health worker crisis: what do wealth-effects tell us?," International Journal of Social Economics, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 41(12), pages 1243-1264, November.
    8. Simplice Asongu & Jacinta C Nwachukwu, 2015. "The incremental effect of education on corruption: evidence of synergy from lifelong learning," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 35(4), pages 2288-2308.
    9. Asongu, Simplice A. & Kodila-Tedika, Oasis, 2013. "Crime and conflicts in Africa: consequences of corruption?," European Economic Letters, European Economics Letters Group, vol. 2(2), pages 50-55.
    10. Asongu Simplice & Jellal Mohamed, 2014. "International aid, corruption and fiscal policy behavior," Working Papers of the African Governance and Development Institute. 14/007, African Governance and Development Institute..
    11. Simplice A Asongu, 2015. "A Good Turn Deserves Another: Political Stability, Corruption and Corruption-Control," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 35(4), pages 2037-2048.
    12. Simplice A. Asongu, 2015. "Institutional benchmarking of foreign aid effectiveness in Africa," International Journal of Social Economics, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 42(6), pages 543-565, June.
    13. Asongu Simplice, 2012. "Financial development dynamic thresholds of financial globalization: evidence from Africa," Working Papers of the African Governance and Development Institute. 12/020, African Governance and Development Institute..
    14. Simplice Asongu, 2014. "The impact of health worker migration on development dynamics: evidence of wealth effects from Africa," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 15(2), pages 187-201, March.
    15. Simplice Asongu, 2014. "On the Effect of State fragility on Corruption," Working Papers of the African Governance and Development Institute. 14/040, African Governance and Development Institute..
    16. Asongu Simplice, 2015. "Determinants of health professionals’ migration in Africa: a WHO based assessment," International Journal of Social Economics, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 42(7), pages 666-686, July.
    17. Asongu, Simplice & Jellal, Mohamed, 2014. "International aid corruption and fiscal behavior policy," MPRA Paper 57192, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    18. Simplice Asongu & Mohamed Jellal, 2016. "Foreign Aid Fiscal Policy: Theory and Evidence," Comparative Economic Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Association for Comparative Economic Studies, vol. 58(2), pages 279-314, June.
    19. Bevaola Kusumasari & MD Enjat Munajat & Fadhli Zul Fauzi, 2023. "Measuring global pandemic governance: how countries respond to COVID-19," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 27(2), pages 603-629, June.
    20. Simplice A. Asongu, 2014. "Fighting Software Piracy: Which IPRs Laws Matter in Africa?," Institutions and Economies (formerly known as International Journal of Institutions and Economies), Faculty of Economics and Administration, University of Malaya, vol. 6(2), pages 1-26, July.
    21. Simplice A, Asongu, 2012. "Fighting software piracy: which IPRs laws (treaties) matter in Africa?," MPRA Paper 43590, University Library of Munich, Germany.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Corruption; Democracy; Government quality; Quantile regression; Africa;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C10 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods and Methodology: General - - - General
    • H10 - Public Economics - - Structure and Scope of Government - - - General
    • K10 - Law and Economics - - Basic Areas of Law - - - General (Constitutional Law)
    • O10 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - General
    • O55 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Africa

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