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The Political Economy of Corruption & the Role of Financial Institutions

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  • Kira Boerner
  • Christa Hainz

Abstract

In many developing and transition countries, we observe rather high levels of corruption. This is surprising from a political economy perspective, as the majority of people in a corrupt country suffer from high corruption levels. Our model is based on the fact that corrupt offcials have to pay entry fees to get lucrative positions. In a probabilistic voting model, we show that a lack of financial institutions can lead to more corruption as more voters are part of the corrupt system and, more importantly, as the rents from corruption are distributed differently. Thus, the economic system has an effect on political outcomes. Well-functioning financial institutions, in turn, increase the political support for anti-corruption measures.

Suggested Citation

  • Kira Boerner & Christa Hainz, 2007. "The Political Economy of Corruption & the Role of Financial Institutions," William Davidson Institute Working Papers Series wp892, William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan.
    • Handle: RePEc:wdi:papers:2007-892
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Corruption; Financial Markets; Institutions; Development; Voting;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
    • D73 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Bureaucracy; Administrative Processes in Public Organizations; Corruption
    • H11 - Public Economics - - Structure and Scope of Government - - - Structure and Scope of Government
    • O17 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Formal and Informal Sectors; Shadow Economy; Institutional Arrangements

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