Corruption, democracy and Asia-Pacific countries

Bibliographic Data

ID12549335
AuthorsNeil Campbell (0000-0003-2313-6608, Bond University, corresponding author), Shrabani Saha (0000-0001-6729-3811, Edith Cowan University)
Year2013
Volume18
Issue2
Pages290-303
Publication date2013-04-08
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of the Asia Pacific Economy (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1354-7860 • E-ISSN: 1469-9648
PublisherRoutledge (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/13547860.2013.778156
OpenAlexW2015404882
LanguageEN
Citations received6
References cited19

This paper argues that the relationship between democracy and corruption is non-monotonic. When a country shifts from autocratic rule to highly imperfect democracy (an ‘electoral democracy’) it is frequently perceived that the level of corruption increases. Conversely, when the democracy level is already relatively high (approaching ‘mature democracy’) an increase in the level of democracy is typically expected to decrease the level of corruption. To assist with our discussion of these issues, before going on to the empirical part of the paper, we look specifically at the case of South Korea to illustrate how corruption responded to an increasing level of democracy. Using panel data, we find strong empirical support for the non-monotonic relationship. For Asia-Pacific countries, we find that the democracy-corruption relationship becomes negative, at a surprisingly high level of democracy. Moreover we also find that the South Asian region is the most corrupt

Asia pacific · Autocracy · Democracy · Development economics · Economic system · Economics · Economy · Empirical evidence · Empirical research · Language change · Political corruption · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Corruption and Economic Development · Crime, Illicit Activities, and Governance · Income, Poverty, and Inequality · Law

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