Does social media reduce corruption?

Chandan Jha and Sudipta Sarangi

Information Economics and Policy, 2017, vol. 39, issue C, 60-71

Abstract: In this paper we study the relationship between multi-way means of communication and corruption by exploring the link between social media and corruption. Using a cross-country analysis of over 150 countries, we document a robust and statistically significant negative relationship between Facebook penetration (a proxy for social media) and corruption. A falsification test for the relationship between Facebook penetration and corruption is also reported. We find that the relationship between Facebook penetration and corruption is strongest for the set of countries with low press freedom. Moreover, we find that social media is complementary to press freedom in regards to its association with corruption Finally, our findings also confirm the negative correlation between internet penetration and corruption.

Keywords: Corruption; Transparency of information; Facebook; Internet; Social media; Press freedom (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D73 D83 H11 O1 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (51)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:iepoli:v:39:y:2017:i:c:p:60-71

DOI: 10.1016/j.infoecopol.2017.04.001

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