Oil, politics, and “Corrupt Bastards”

Alexander James and Nathaly Rivera

Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, 2022, vol. 111, issue C

Abstract: Does oil corrupt? We test this theory using forty years of U.S. state-level data measuring corruption as both convictions of corruption and the frequency that words like “corrupt”, “fraud”, and “bribe”—and their iterations—appear in newspapers. We find that oil-rich U.S. states experience more corruption than their oil-poor counterparts, but only during periods of high oil prices, suggesting a causal relationship. Results are robust to a variety of modeling assumptions and specifications. Implications and mechanisms are discussed.

Keywords: Oil shocks; Rent seeking; Political economy; Political corruption; Rentier state (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D72 D73 Q32 Q33 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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Working Paper: Oil, Politics, and Corrupt Bastards (2019)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jeeman:v:111:y:2022:i:c:s009506962100139x

DOI: 10.1016/j.jeem.2021.102599

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