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Conditional Corruption

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  • Bin Dong
  • Uwe Dulleck
  • Benno Torgler

Abstract

We argue that the decision to bribe bureaucrats depends on the frequency of corruption within a society. We provide a behavioral model to explain this conduct: engaging in corruption results in a disutility of guilt. This implies that people observe a lower probability to be involved in corruption if on average the guilt level of others within a country is higher. We also explore whether - and to what extent - group dynamics or socialization and past experiences affect corruption. In other words, we explore theoretically and empirically whether corruption is contagious and whether conditional cooperation matters. We use the notion of �conditional corruption� for these effects. The empirical section presents evidence using two data sets at the micro level and a large macro level international panel data set covering almost 20 years. The results indicate that the willingness to engage in corruption is influenced by the perceived activities of peers and other individuals. Moreover, the panel data set at the macro level indicates that the past level of corruption has a strong impact on the current corruption level.

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Bibliographic Info

Paper provided by School of Economics and Finance, Queensland University of Technology in its series School of Economics and Finance Discussion Papers and Working Papers Series with number 241.

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Date of creation: 27 Jan 2009
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Handle: RePEc:qut:dpaper:241

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Keywords: corruption; contagion effect; conditional cooperation; interdependent preferences;

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References

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Blog mentions

As found by EconAcademics.org, the blog aggregator for Economics research:
  1. Links: Prostitution. Small schools. Spain. Corruption.
    by UDADISI in udadisi on 2012-01-17 11:21:00
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Cited by:
  1. Torgler, Benno & García-Valiñas, María A. & Macintyre, Alison, 2009. "Environmental Participation and Environmental Motivation," Berkeley Olin Program in Law & Economics, Working Paper Series qt5hx0f0c2, Berkeley Olin Program in Law & Economics.
  2. Bobkova, Nina & Egbert, Henrik, 2012. "Corruption investigated in the lab: a survey of the experimental literature," MPRA Paper 38163, University Library of Munich, Germany.
  3. David A. Savage & Benno Torgler, 2013. "THE TIMES THEY ARE A CHANGIN': The effect of institutions on behavior, cooperation, emotional attachment and sentiment at 26,000ft," QuBE Working Papers 014, QUT Business School.
  4. Simplice A, Asongu, 2012. "Fighting corruption when existing corruption-control levels count : what do wealth-effects tell us in Africa?," MPRA Paper 42180, University Library of Munich, Germany.

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