Trust no more? On the lasting effects of corruption scandals

Albert Solé-Ollé and Pilar Sorribas-Navarro

European Journal of Political Economy, 2018, vol. 55, issue C, 185-203

Abstract: We examine whether the break out of a corruption scandal involving the incumbent undermines trust in government, and whether this effect fades in the short term or whether it has lasting effects. We use a novel dataset with information on local corruption scandals occurring in Spain in the period 1999–2009, and data on the level of trust expressed in local politicians, obtained from a survey conducted in 2009. We find that corruption scandals have a marked effect both on levels of trust in local politicians and on perceptions of corruption. We also show that, while these perceptions gradually revert back to their pre-scandal levels, the effect on trust is more persistent. Using a mediation analysis we show that other side effects of corruption (including, government fragmentation and fiscal stress) are responsible for the persistence of the effect on trust.

Keywords: Corruption; Trust (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D72 P16 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (11)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:poleco:v:55:y:2018:i:c:p:185-203

DOI: 10.1016/j.ejpoleco.2017.12.003

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