Corrupt thy neighbor? New evidence of corruption contagion from bordering nations

Rajeev Goel and James Saunoris

Journal of Policy Modeling, 2022, vol. 44, issue 3, 635-652

Abstract: The continuing presence of corruption worldwide has policymakers looking for broader trans-national efforts to combat corruption. We examine the effects of a nation’s physical proximity (via land borders and the number of bordering nations) as well as prevailing corruption on cross-border corruption spillovers. Using data on 147 countries from 2012-2018, results show that while border corruption positively affects corruption in a nation, a longer land border, and more neighbors have a mitigating effect on corruption. Nesting the analysis in the literature on the determinants of cross-national corruption, these new findings imply that a nation’s geographic location might play a larger role in transmissions of corruption than previously recognized. This finding has relevance for the design of anti-corruption coordination across nations.

Keywords: Corruption; Spillovers; Contagion; Border; Government size; Spatial effects (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D73 K42 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jpolmo:v:44:y:2022:i:3:p:635-652

DOI: 10.1016/j.jpolmod.2022.05.004

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