The persistent effect of colonialism on corruption

Angeles, L. and Neanidis, K. C. (2015) The persistent effect of colonialism on corruption. Economica, 82(326), pp. 319-349. (doi: 10.1111/ecca.12123)

Abstract

This paper argues that corruption in developing countries has deep historical roots that go all the way back to their colonial experience. We substantiate our thesis with empirical evidence where the degree of European settlement during colonial times is a powerful explanatory factor of present-day corruption. Interestingly, our mechanism is different from the prevailing view in the literature on institutions and growth, where European settlement has only positive effects. We argue that European settlement leads to higher levels of corruption for all countries where Europeans remained a minority in the population, i.e. for all developing countries.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Angeles, Professor Luis
• Authors: Angeles, L., and Neanidis, K. C.
• College/School: College of Social Sciences > Adam Smith Business School > Economics
• Journal Name: Economica
• Publisher: The London School of Economics and Political Science
• ISSN: 0013-0427
• ISSN (Online): 1468-0335
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2015 Wiley-Blackwell
• First Published: First published in Economica 82(326):319-349
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher.