This file is part of IDEAS, which uses RePEc data


[ Papers | Articles | Software | Books | Chapters | Authors | Institutions | JEL Classification | NEP reports | Search | New papers by email | Author registration | Rankings | Volunteers | FAQ | Blog | Help! ]

Weathering Corruption

Author info | Abstract | Publisher info | Download info | Related research | Statistics
Author Info
Peter T. Leeson (Department of Economics, West Virginia University)
Russell S. Sobel (Department of Economics, West Virginia University)

Additional information is available for the following registered author(s):

Abstract

Could bad weather be responsible for U.S. corruption? This paper argues that natural disasters create resource windfalls in the states they strike by triggering federally-provided natural disaster relief. Consistent with the theory that natural resource and foreign aid windfalls increase public corruption, disaster relief windfalls likely do as well. We investigate this hypothesis by exploring the effect of FEMA-provided disaster relief on public corruption. The results support our hypothesis. Each additional $1 per capita in average annual FEMA relief increases corruption nearly 2.5 percent in the average state. Eliminating FEMA disaster relief would reduce corruption more than 20 percent in the average state. Our findings suggest that notoriously corrupt regions of the United States, such as the Gulf Coast, are notoriously corrupt because natural disasters frequently strike them.

Download Info
To download:

If you experience problems downloading a file, check if you have the proper application to view it first. Information about this may be contained in the File-Format links below. In case of further problems read the IDEAS help page. Note that these files are not on the IDEAS site. Please be patient as the files may be large.

File URL: http://www.be.wvu.edu/div/econ//work/pdf_files/06-07.pdf
File Format: application/pdf
File Function: First version, June, 2006
Download Restriction: no

Publisher Info
Paper provided by Department of Economics, West Virginia University in its series Working Papers with number 06-07.

Download reference. The following formats are available: HTML (with abstract), plain text (with abstract), BibTeX, RIS (EndNote, RefMan, ProCite), ReDIF
Length: 27 pages
Date of creation: 2006
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:wvu:wpaper:06-07

Contact details of provider:
Postal: P.O. Box 6025, Morgantown, WV 26506-6025
Phone: (304) 293-7859
Fax: (304) 293-2233
Email:
Web page: http://www.be.wvu.edu/div/econ/
More information through EDIRC

For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its listing, contact: (Alexei Egorov) The email address of this maintainer does not seem to be valid anymore. Please ask Alexei Egorov to update the entry or send us the correct address..

Related research
Keywords:

Other versions of this item:

This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:
Statistics
Access and download statistics

Did you know? All the bibliographic data shown here has been contributed by volunteers, thereby helping to keep this service free.

This page was last updated on 2009-11-20.

This information is provided to you by IDEAS at the Department of Economics, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, University of Connecticut using RePEc data on a server sponsored by the Society for Economic Dynamics.