Using detailed Peruvian data measuring bribery, I assess which types of public official are most corrupt and why. I distinguish between the bribery rate and the size of bribes received, and seek to explain the variation in each across public institutions. The characteristics of officials' clients explain most of the variation for bribery rates, but none for bribe amounts. A measure of the speed of honest service at the institution explains much of the remaining variation for both bribery rates and amounts. The results indicate that the bribery rate is higher at institutions with bribe-prone clients, and that bribery rates and bribe amounts are higher where clients are frustrated at slow service. Faster and better service would reduce corruption. Overall, the judiciary and the police are by far the most corrupt institutions.
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Paper provided by C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers in its series CEPR Discussion Papers with number
5252.
Find related papers by JEL classification: H4 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods K4 - Law and Economics - - Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behavior O1 - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development
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References listed on IDEAS Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
Swamy, Anand & Knack, Stephen & Lee, Young & Azfar, Omar, 2001.
"Gender and corruption,"
Journal of Development Economics,
Elsevier, vol. 64(1), pages 25-55, February.
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