The Influence of ICT on the Control of Corruption

Abstract

Corruption might occur in many places within the government. Information and Communication Technology (ICT) can be used to create a more open and transparent government enabling the Control of Corruption (CoC). The research presented in this paper aims to analyze the effect of ICT on CoC in open government. Using panel data of ASEAN countries over 33 years from 1984 to 2016, this study examined the data utilizing panel Auto-Regressive Distributed Lags (ARDL). The results of this study reinforce the existing literature on the positive effects of ICT on CoC. However, the assumed relationship is more complicated than often assumed. This study shows the presence of a quadratic (non-linear) inverted u-shaped relationship between the ICT development and CoC, which implies that there is no further opportunity for ICT alone to reduce corruption once a threshold is reached. ICT might even be used to facilitate corruption. Hence, ICT needs to be complemented by institutional and organizational measures and education to fight corruption.