فساد و رشد: نقش دولت، هزینه های عمومی و توسعه اقتصادی

This paper analyses how the quality of governance, the size of public spending, and economic development affect the relationship between bureaucratic corruption and economic growth. The analysis shows that the interaction between corruption and governance shapes the efficiency of public spending, which in turn, determines the growth effects of corruption. Specifically, corruption improves economic efficiency only when the actual government size is above the optimal level. It implies that a growth-maximising level of corruption is possible. This paper also finds that the incidence of corruption declines with economic development. This is because with economic development the wage rate rises and makes private rent seeking costs higher, thereby, discouraging corruption. The main policy implication is that targeting tax evaders instead of bureaucrats is more effective in terms of both reducing corruption and improving the growth potential of an economy.

When the public and private sectors interact, bureaucrats may abuse their public position for private gains by accepting bribes or even actively extorting them. This behaviour is defined as an act of bureaucratic corruption. Examining the effects of bureaucratic corruption on economic growth and more importantly, how this relationship is influenced by the quality of governance, the size of public spending, and economic development is the primary focus of this paper.