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Corruption, democracy and Asia-Pacific countries

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  • Neil Campbell
  • Shrabani Saha

Abstract

This paper argues that the relationship between democracy and corruption is non-monotonic. When a country shifts from autocratic rule to highly imperfect democracy (an ‘electoral democracy’) it is frequently perceived that the level of corruption increases. Conversely, when the democracy level is already relatively high (approaching ‘mature democracy’) an increase in the level of democracy is typically expected to decrease the level of corruption. To assist with our discussion of these issues, before going on to the empirical part of the paper, we look specifically at the case of South Korea to illustrate how corruption responded to an increasing level of democracy. Using panel data, we find strong empirical support for the non-monotonic relationship. For Asia-Pacific countries, we find that the democracy-corruption relationship becomes negative, at a surprisingly high level of democracy. Moreover we also find that the South Asian region is the most corrupt.

Suggested Citation

  • Neil Campbell & Shrabani Saha, 2013. "Corruption, democracy and Asia-Pacific countries," Journal of the Asia Pacific Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(2), pages 290-303.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:rjapxx:v:18:y:2013:i:2:p:290-303
    DOI: 10.1080/13547860.2013.778156
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. Zeeshan, Muhammad & han, Jiabin & Rehman, Alam & Ullah, Irfan & Hussain, Arif & Alam Afridi, Fakhr E., 2022. "Exploring symmetric and asymmetric nexus between corruption, political instability, natural resources and economic growth in the context of Pakistan," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    3. OUEGHLISSI, Rim & DERBALI, Ahmed, 2021. "Democracy, Corruption and Unemployment: Empirical Evidence from Developing Countries," MPRA Paper 107535, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Victoria Butmalai & Liu Qijun, 2021. "A Perception-based Investigation on Corruption in Higher Education: Evidence from the Republic of Moldova," Journal of Public Administration and Governance, Macrothink Institute, vol. 11(1), pages 201222-2012, December.
    5. Askarov, Zohid & Doucouliagos, Hristos, 2015. "Aid and institutions in transition economies," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 55-70.
    6. Rim Oueghlissi & Ahmed Derbali, 2024. "Democracy, Corruption and Unemployment: Empirical Evidence from Developing Countries," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 15(2), pages 7475-7496, June.
    7. Arega Shumetie & Mulugeta Damie Watabaji, 2019. "Effect of corruption and political instability on enterprises’ innovativeness in Ethiopia: pooled data based," Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Springer, vol. 8(1), pages 1-19, December.

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