An experimental evaluation of an anti-corruption intervention among Ukrainian university students

Elena Denisova-Schmidt, Martin Huber and Yaroslav Prytula

No 462, FSES Working Papers from Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences, University of Freiburg/Fribourg Switzerland

Abstract: In this paper, we investigate experimentally the effect of an anti-corruption intervention -an info folder based on materials developed by Transparency International- on Ukrainian university students’ willingness to participate in an anti-corruption campaign and their general attitude toward corruption. In a survey of 600 students in the Ukrainian city of Lviv, individuals were randomly exposed to either the anti-corruption folder (treatment group) or a folder with information about Lviv (control group). The results suggest that students who have previous experience with bribing are more open to the campaign, while the effect on the total sample is not statistically significant. Furthermore, the intervention increases the overall perception that corruption is a (long-term) part of society rather than a temporary phenomenon. Finally, students with experience in corrupt practices tend to adopt a more negative view of corruption. For those without such experiences, however, we find some indication that the treatment could bolster the acceptance of corruption by instructing the students about its dissemination. The effects of this intervention are therefore ambivalent and appear to depend on the students’ previous exposure to corruption.

Keywords: Anti-Corruption Campaigns; Corruption; Academic Integrity; University; Students; Ukraine; Experiment; Randomized Trial (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C93 D73 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 25 pages
Date: 2015-11-05
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cis, nep-exp and nep-tra
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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