{"title":"Unpacking corruption: The role of economic freedom in developing countries","authors":"Brandon Parsons","doi":"10.1016/j.rie.2025.101044","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This comprehensive study examines the effects of economic freedom on corruption in a panel of 92 developing countries from 1995 to 2021. The study uses two composite measures of economic freedom: the Fraser Institute and the Heritage Foundation. The study also tests individual subcomponents of each composite economic freedom measure (e.g., regulation and government size). The study finds composite economic freedom measures moderate corruption. The results are robustly tested and consistent across three corruption measures (i.e., ICRG, Transparency International, World Bank), model specifications, and econometric frameworks (e.g., OLS, FE, RE, FGLS, GMM). The study uses the Method of Moment quantile econometric framework to test if there is an uneven effect based on the corruption environment (e.g., low corruption versus high corruption). The study finds economic freedom reduces corruption even in countries with the most rampant corruption, which counters findings from other studies. Economic freedom subcomponent analysis reveals property rights protection and deregulation are particularly effective at reducing corruption. One dimension of economic freedom that can exacerbate corruption is smaller governments, as they may lack the capacity to provide adequate oversight and enforcement of laws and regulations.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":46094,"journal":{"name":"Research in Economics","volume":"79 2","pages":"Article 101044"},"PeriodicalIF":1.2000,"publicationDate":"2025-02-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Research in Economics","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1090944325000213","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"ECONOMICS","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
This comprehensive study examines the effects of economic freedom on corruption in a panel of 92 developing countries from 1995 to 2021. The study uses two composite measures of economic freedom: the Fraser Institute and the Heritage Foundation. The study also tests individual subcomponents of each composite economic freedom measure (e.g., regulation and government size). The study finds composite economic freedom measures moderate corruption. The results are robustly tested and consistent across three corruption measures (i.e., ICRG, Transparency International, World Bank), model specifications, and econometric frameworks (e.g., OLS, FE, RE, FGLS, GMM). The study uses the Method of Moment quantile econometric framework to test if there is an uneven effect based on the corruption environment (e.g., low corruption versus high corruption). The study finds economic freedom reduces corruption even in countries with the most rampant corruption, which counters findings from other studies. Economic freedom subcomponent analysis reveals property rights protection and deregulation are particularly effective at reducing corruption. One dimension of economic freedom that can exacerbate corruption is smaller governments, as they may lack the capacity to provide adequate oversight and enforcement of laws and regulations.
期刊介绍：
Established in 1947, Research in Economics is one of the oldest general-interest economics journals in the world and the main one among those based in Italy. The purpose of the journal is to select original theoretical and empirical articles that will have high impact on the debate in the social sciences; since 1947, it has published important research contributions on a wide range of topics. A summary of our editorial policy is this: the editors make a preliminary assessment of whether the results of a paper, if correct, are worth publishing. If so one of the associate editors reviews the paper: from the reviewer we expect to learn if the paper is understandable and coherent and - within reasonable bounds - the results are correct. We believe that long lags in publication and multiple demands for revision simply slow scientific progress. Our goal is to provide you a definitive answer within one month of submission. We give the editors one week to judge the overall contribution and if acceptable send your paper to an associate editor. We expect the associate editor to provide a more detailed evaluation within three weeks so that the editors can make a final decision before the month expires. In the (rare) case of a revision we allow four months and in the case of conditional acceptance we allow two months to submit the final version. In both cases we expect a cover letter explaining how you met the requirements. For conditional acceptance the editors will verify that the requirements were met. In the case of revision the original associate editor will do so. If the revision cannot be at least conditionally accepted it is rejected: there is no second revision.
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