IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/ebl/ecbull/eb-20-00521.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Effect of the size of government spending on corruption in sub-saharan african countries

Author

Listed:
  • Abdoulaye Dramane

    (Faculty of Economics and Management - University of Parakou)

Abstract

Previous work on the effect of the size of government spending on corruption has led to mixed results. In order to explain those ambiguous results, this paper aims to analysing the effect of the size of government spending on corruption in african countries by considering three indicators, namely government final consumption expenditure, public health expenditure and military expenditure. Using annual data on a panel of thirty nine african countries over the period 2000 - 2017, the results show that government final consumption expenditure and public health expenditure have a negative effect on the level of corruption, and that military expenditure leads to an increase in corruption. In addition, the identification of transmission channels for the effects of the size of government spending on corruption was highlighted. As robustness and to address endogeneity problems, we conduct the instrumental variables estimation and the results reveal that our main findings are robust. The study suggests intensifying the fight against corruption by strengthening the quality of institutions and improving the functioning of the judicial system.

Suggested Citation

  • Abdoulaye Dramane, 2021. "Effect of the size of government spending on corruption in sub-saharan african countries," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 41(1), pages 167-181.
    • Handle: RePEc:ebl:ecbull:eb-20-00521
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.accessecon.com/Pubs/EB/2021/Volume0/EB-21-V41-I1-P16.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. d’Agostino, Giorgio & Dunne, J. Paul & Pieroni, Luca, 2016. "Government Spending, Corruption and Economic Growth," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 190-205.
    2. Gary S. Becker, 1974. "Crime and Punishment: An Economic Approach," NBER Chapters, in: Essays in the Economics of Crime and Punishment, pages 1-54, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Goel, Rajeev K. & Nelson, Michael A., 2010. "Causes of corruption: History, geography and government," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 32(4), pages 433-447, July.
    4. Billger, Sherrilyn M. & Goel, Rajeev K., 2009. "Do existing corruption levels matter in controlling corruption?: Cross-country quantile regression estimates," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(2), pages 299-305, November.
    5. Shi, Yingying & Pan, Min & Peng, Daiyan, 2017. "Replicator dynamics and evolutionary game of social tolerance: The role of neutral agents," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 159(C), pages 10-14.
    6. Guriev, Sergei, 2004. "Red tape and corruption," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 73(2), pages 489-504, April.
    7. Kotera, Go & Okada, Keisuke & Samreth, Sovannroeun, 2012. "Government size, democracy, and corruption: An empirical investigation," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 29(6), pages 2340-2348.
    8. Alesina, Alberto & Angeletos, George-Marios, 2005. "Corruption, inequality, and fairness," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 52(7), pages 1227-1244, October.
    9. Giorgio d’Agostino & John Paul Dunne & Luca Pieroni, 2012. "Corruption, Military Spending And Growth," Defence and Peace Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(6), pages 591-604, December.
    10. Yingying SHI & Min PAN, 2018. "Dynamics of Social Tolerance on Corruption: An Economic Interaction Perspective," Journal for Economic Forecasting, Institute for Economic Forecasting, vol. 0(2), pages 135-141, December.
    11. Kimberly Ann Elliott, 1997. "Corruption and the Global Economy," Peterson Institute Press: All Books, Peterson Institute for International Economics, number 12, January.
    12. La Porta, Rafael & Lopez-de-Silanes, Florencio & Shleifer, Andrei & Vishny, Robert, 1999. "The Quality of Government," The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 15(1), pages 222-279, April.
    13. Go, Kotera & Okada, Keisuke & Samreth, Sovannroeun, 2010. "A panel study on the relationship between corruption and government size," MPRA Paper 21519, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    14. Alberto Ades & Rafael Di Tella, 1997. "The New Economics of Corruption: a Survey and Some New Results," Political Studies, Political Studies Association, vol. 45(3), pages 496-515, August.
    15. Rajeev Goel & Michael Nelson, 2011. "Measures of corruption and determinants of US corruption," Economics of Governance, Springer, vol. 12(2), pages 155-176, June.
    16. Cerqueti, Roy & Correani, Luca & Garofalo, Giuseppe, 2013. "Economic interactions and social tolerance: A dynamic perspective," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 120(3), pages 458-463.
    17. George J. Stigler, 1971. "The Theory of Economic Regulation," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 2(1), pages 3-21, Spring.
    18. James E. Alt & David Dreyer Lassen, 2003. "The Political Economy of Institutions and Corruption in American States," Journal of Theoretical Politics, , vol. 15(3), pages 341-365, July.
    19. Dong, Bin & Torgler, Benno, 2013. "Causes of corruption: Evidence from China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 26(C), pages 152-169.
    20. Paulo Roberto Arvate & Andrea Zaitune Curi & Fabiana Rocha & Fabio Miessi Sanches, 2010. "Corruption and the size of government: causality tests for OECD and Latin American countries," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(10), pages 1013-1017.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Olalekan Charles Okunlola & Imran Usman Sani & Olumide Abiodun Ayetigbo & Olajide O. Oyadeyi, 2024. "Effect of government expenditure on real economic growth in ECOWAS: assessing the moderating role of corruption and conflict," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-15, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Nedra Baklouti & Younes Boujelbene, 2018. "Moderation of the Relationship Between Size of Government and Corruption by Democracy," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 9(4), pages 1210-1223, December.
    2. Graziella Bonanno & Lucia Errico & Nadia Fiorino & Roberto Ricciuti, 2024. "The Impact of Government Size on Corruption: A Meta-Regression Analysis," CESifo Working Paper Series 10956, CESifo.
    3. Eugen Dimant & Guglielmo Tosato, 2018. "Causes And Effects Of Corruption: What Has Past Decade'S Empirical Research Taught Us? A Survey," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(2), pages 335-356, April.
    4. Blaise Gnimassoun, Joseph Keneck Massil, 2019. "Determinants of corruption: can we put all countries in the same basket?," European Journal of Comparative Economics, Cattaneo University (LIUC), vol. 16(2), pages 239-276, December.
    5. Hailin Chen & Friedrich Schneider & Qunli Sun, 2018. "Size, Determinants, and Consequences of Corruption in China's Provinces: The MIMIC Approach," CESifo Working Paper Series 7175, CESifo.
    6. António Afonso & Eduardo Sá Fortes Leitão Rodrigues, 2022. "Corruption and economic growth: does the size of the government matter?," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 55(2), pages 543-576, May.
    7. Blaise Gnimassoun & Joseph Keneck Massil, 2016. "Determinants of corruption: Can we put all countries in the same basket?," Working Papers hal-04141599, HAL.
    8. repec:pdn:wpaper:79 is not listed on IDEAS
    9. Jetter, Michael & Parmeter, Christopher F., 2018. "Sorting through global corruption determinants: Institutions and education matter – Not culture," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 279-294.
    10. Forson, Joseph Ato & Baah-Ennumh, Theresa Yabaa & Buracom, Ponlapat & Chen, Guojin & Peng, Zhen, 2014. "Causes of Corruption: Evidence from Sub-Sahara Africa," MPRA Paper 102431, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 20 Mar 2016.
    11. Rajeev K. Goel & James W. Saunoris, 2016. "Military Buildups, Economic Development and Corruption," Manchester School, University of Manchester, vol. 84(6), pages 697-722, December.
    12. Dzhumashev, Ratbek, 2014. "Corruption and growth: The role of governance, public spending, and economic development," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 202-215.
    13. Rajeev Goel & Michael Nelson, 2011. "Measures of corruption and determinants of US corruption," Economics of Governance, Springer, vol. 12(2), pages 155-176, June.
    14. repec:zbw:bofitp:2013_009 is not listed on IDEAS
    15. 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.
    16. Kotera, Go & Okada, Keisuke & Samreth, Sovannroeun, 2012. "Government size, democracy, and corruption: An empirical investigation," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 29(6), pages 2340-2348.
    17. Kotera, Go & Okada, Keisuke & Samreth, Sovannroeun, 2010. "A study on the relationship between corruption and government size: the role of democracy," MPRA Paper 25015, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    18. A. Enisan Akinlo, 2024. "Corruption and Misery Index in Nigeria: Is There a Link?," Journal of Interdisciplinary Economics, , vol. 36(1), pages 26-40, January.
    19. Olmos, Lorena & Bellido, Héctor & Román-Aso, Juan A., 2020. "The effects of mega-events on perceived corruption," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Africa; Corruption; Panel data; Size of government spending;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O5 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies
    • H1 - Public Economics - - Structure and Scope of Government

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ebl:ecbull:eb-20-00521. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: John P. Conley (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.