Dissertation for Master Degree (M.A)
Field: Economics
Tension: Development and Planning
Dissertation abstract (including summary, objectives, implementation methods and obtained results):
SAD as one of the oldest problems of human society has always been the concern of thinkers of various sciences. The prevalence of financial corruption is considered as one of the most important obstacles in the way of successful economic progress. The main goal of this study is to investigate the effect of economic variables on corruption in two groups of high-income countries and low-income countries. According to the coefficients obtained in both income groups, it can be seen that the non-specific domestic production has had the greatest effect on the index of corruption perception in the time frame of this study. As a result, it can be argued that the more poverty in a society, the more corruption will be perceived in that society. In oil-rich countries, due to the lack of accountability of governments and state monopolies, corruption can increase even in spite of high GDP.
Economic freedom, as another factor in reducing corruption, has a significant effect only with the application of monitoring mechanisms and the existence of a high level of democracy, and its increase in the region due to the lack of political freedom, which is a prerequisite for economic freedom, causes corruption.
Then using data-based methods A panel including fixed effects, random effects and FGLS techniques was tried to select the best estimation model to interpret and present the results. After examining the necessary parameters, the model was selected as the final model to interpret the results by removing the heterogeneity of variance. According to the results of the FGLS model, it was observed that in general, the improvement in the variables of GDP per capita, the level of higher education, the employment rate, and the democracy index led to a decrease in corruption in the two sample groups, and an increase in the economic freedom index also led to a decrease in corruption only in the high income group. The width from the origin of the model is also positive and significant in the two sample groups. Chapter 1: Research overview 1-1 Introduction Corruption includes a wide range of issues and exists in different forms. Existing literature broadly identifies four types of corruption in a democratic society. First, political corruption refers to the actions of political leaders who use their power to exploit economic policies. Second, administrative corruption refers to the corrupt practices of bureaucrats in their dealings with their superiors or the public. Third, judicial corruption refers to the flourishing of electoral democracies. Fourth, financial corruption as one of the most important obstacles in the way of successful economic developments. It should be noted that corruption leads to poor economic performance, especially in developing economies. In this article, the impact of economic variables on corruption in Iran and two groups of developed countries: Germany, England, Canada, America, Australia, Sweden, Switzerland, Sweden, France and Finland and the backward: Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iraq, Qatar, Libya, Venezuela, Indonesia and Nigeria; It will be done using the panel data method.
This study examines various economic factors affecting corruption. In addition to real GDP per capita, various variables have been identified, including: education, income inequality, employment rate, type of government (based on democracy index) and economic freedom. It has been investigated for the period of 2000-2013. The first question in this research is whether corruption decreases in developed countries or is the rate of corruption higher in developing countries based on the introduced indicators? The second question is the comparison of the effects of different social factors, for example, the level of literacy and education, inequality and unemployment, on the index of perception of corruption. 1-2- Statement of the problem Corruption, as one of the oldest problems of human society, has always been the focus of scholars of various sciences. The prevalence of financial corruption is considered as one of the most important obstacles in the way of successful economic progress. Administrative corruption is a complication that plagues all developed or less developed countries, democratic and non-democratic. In other words, there is no clean country in the world in terms of administrative corruption.In the list of the Transparency International Organization (Transparency International), which ranks countries every year according to the prevalence of corruption, no country is left out, unless there is no statistics on corruption indicators from that country. In fact, wherever there is government, there will be more or less corruption. Administrative corruption is the product of the government's intervention in the economy, and it may be based on Gary Baker's statement that corruption can only be eliminated by removing the (big) government. Some also believe that members of society must choose between market failure and economic corruption. Based on this, different societies, considering corruption as a relatively inevitable issue, have sought to set up their political structure and institutional arrangements in such a way as to have the least amount of corruption. Experience has shown that countries with a political structure A democratic, competitive economy has experienced less corruption. The statistics of the Transparency International also confirm this issue. Also, from the list of countries of the Transparency International, we find that despite the fact that some countries are more ethical, there is a high level of corruption in them, resulting in a decrease in the efficiency of investment and as a result, economic growth At the same time, financial corruption can lead investment and economic activities from its productive form to rents and underground activities and cause the development of terrifying organizations such as the mafia. Widespread corruption is one of the signs of weak governance.
Investigation of the causes and factors of the prevalence of financial corruption confirms the fact that economies directed from above and mandated are one of the bases for the cultivation of bribery and financial corruption. Also, if managers have a lot of power and are poor at the same time, the tendency to corruption will intensify. Another reason for the spread of corruption is its contagious nature. In the research conducted by the Italian parliament in 1993 about mafia corruption, it has been determined that the belief that "others also commit corruption" One of the frequent reasons has been financial corruption.
The prevalence of financial corruption is rightly listed as one of the most important obstacles to economic progress. A high level of financial corruption can cause the ineffectiveness of government policies. Research shows that corruption reduces investment and thus reduces economic growth. Financial corruption can lead economic activities from its productive form to rents and underground activities and cause the emergence of terrifying organizations such as the mafia. Widespread and widespread corruption is one of the signs of weak governance, and weak governance performance can directly undermine the process of economic growth and development. 1-3- Research Objectives The main objective of this study is to investigate the effect of economic variables on corruption in selected countries, in which the following objectives are also pursued: a) Investigating the effect of the democracy index on the corruption perception index in the selected countries. Corruption perception index in selected countries. 1-4- Research questions The questions that this study seeks to answer are: 1- Does corruption decrease in selected countries with an increase in the democracy index? 2- Does corruption decrease in selected countries with an increase in the economic freedom index? 1-5- Research hypotheses
According to the statement of the problem and the theoretical foundations raised, the following hypotheses can be considered for the research;
A) An increase in the democracy index has a negative effect on the corruption perception index in the selected countries.
B) An increase in the economic freedom index has a negative effect on the reduction of the corruption perception index in the selected countries.
1-6- Research methodology
The present research is applied research in terms of its purpose and in terms of method, It is an analytical and descriptive type of research. In this research, it is tried to use the technique Econometrics of panel data to investigate the effect of economic variables on corruption in selected countries