The effects of federal regulations on corruption in U.S. States

Oguzhan Dincer and Burak Gunalp

European Journal of Political Economy, 2020, vol. 65, issue C

Abstract: Using the newly constructed Federal Regulation and State Enterprise Index (FRASE Index) to measure the federal regulations and the existing Corruption Convictions Index (CCI), we investigate the effects of federal regulations on corruption in U.S. states. Controlling for several demographic and economic variables including the Fraser Institute’s Economic Freedom Index (EFI), which measures the size and scope of government in U.S. states, we find a positive and statistically significant relationship between federal regulations and corruption. Our findings have important policy implications. A 1 standard deviation increase in FRASE Index causes CCI to increase by approximately 0.5 standard deviations. Standardized coefficient of EFI is also approximately equal to 0.5. In other words, it is possible to mitigate the effects of regulations at the federal level by reducing the size and the scope of the government at the state level.

Keywords: FRASE Index; Corruption; Economic freedom; U.S. States (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D73 H11 K20 L51 R10 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:poleco:v:65:y:2020:i:c:s0176268020300720

DOI: 10.1016/j.ejpoleco.2020.101924

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