Research Setting

How does Protestantism influence competitiveness and transparency compared to Roman Catholicism in Europe and the Americas? This book answers the research question by applying a “Mixed Methods approach to Grounded Theory” (MM-GT). This chapter expands on the research aims, research question, hypotheses, and research model in this study. The research model synthesises understanding and serves as a rationale for the entire book. The model exhibits the main exogenous theoretical determinants of corruption and prosperity, which are tested empirically.

Who suffers and how much from corruption? Evidence from firm-level data

In this article, we study firm-level determinants of corruption using a sample of 164,000 companies from 144 countries for the 2005–2020 period. We analyze two variables related to corruption: the perception of corruption as an obstacle to doing business using an ordinal logit model and actual bribe tax payments using a fractional logit model. Controlling for other factors, both sets of our empirical results show that the extent of corruption is related to the time spent dealing with regulations and inspections. We argue that firms which spend more time dealing with administrative procedures have a greater perception of corruption and are forced to make significantly higher bribe payments. Therefore, in a successful fight against corruption, it is essential to simplify administrative procedures by reducing their number and eliminating direct contacts between firms and officials.

Determinants of corruption in developing countries: case of Tunisia

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the economic, political or sociocultural determinants of corruption in Tunisia. Design/methodology/approach To better understand the main determinants of corruption in Tunisia. This study uses The Bayesian Model Averaging (BMA) model, which allows us to include a large number of explanatory variables and for a shorter period. Findings The results show that economic freedom is the most important variable of corruption in Tunisia. In second place comes the subsidies granted by the government, which is one of the best shelters of corruption in Tunisia through their use for purposes different from those already allocated to them. Third, this paper finds the high unemployment rate, which, in turn, is getting worse even nowadays. The other three factors considered as causal but of lesser importance are public expenditures, the human development index (HDI) and education. Education, the HDI and the unemployment rate are all socio-economic factors that promote corruption. Originality/value The realization of this study will lead to triple net contributions. The first is to introduce explicitly and simultaneously political, social and economic determinants of corruption in developing countries. Second, unlike previous studies based on the simple and generalized regression model, the present research uses another novel and highly developed estimation method. More precisely, this study uses the BMA model, on the set of annual data for a period of 1998–2018. The third contribution of this research resides in the choice of the sample.

Determinants of corruption crime in the area of state (municipal) procurement

The subject of this research is the norms of international and domestic legislation on state (municipal) procurement and corruption prevention, as well as the scientific works on the determinants of corruption crime in this field. The goal consists in identification of the subjective and objective determinants of corruption crime in the area of state and municipal procurement. The author sets a task to analyze and generalize the established within scientific literature approaches towards explanation of the determinants of corruption crime in the indicated sphere, as well as to systematize such determinants by content and origin. The scientific novelty consists in systematization and generalization of scientific knowledge on the determinants of corruption crime in the area of state (municipal) procurement. The author explores subjective and objective determinants of corruption crime in this field, and based on their content, reveals the socio-psychological, socio-economic, political, legal and organizational-administrative determinants of corruption crime in the area of state (municipal) procurement. The conclusion is made that due to continuous reform in the corresponding legislation in this area, as well as the instability of socioeconomic situation for ensuring the prompt adaptability of the system of corruption prevention in area of state (municipal) procurement, it is necessary to provided regular monitoring of the determinants of such type of crime.

Experimental Trends in Corruption and Tax Evasion

Nowadays, among the main social concerns of the Spanish society we find corruption and fraud, which occupy the second place in terms of relevance according to recent data. The traditional neoclassical economic approaches concentrate on the construction of economic models that aim to explain the causes of both social phenomena. However, in the last decade several studies have emerged focusing on a behavioral approach to improve the explanatory capacity of such models. In this sense, economic experiments have been implemented to examine, from a different perspective, the determinants of corruption, on the one hand, and fiscal fraud, on the other. Few empirical studies relate both social problems, especially when we refer to the tax evasion of individual economic agents. Therefore, this paper aims to review and deepen the understanding of the factors that determine and relate tax evasion and corruption, from an experimental approach.