I study data on bribes actually paid by individuals to public officials, viewing the results
through a theoretical lens that considers the implications of trust networks. A bond of trust
may permit an implicit quid pro quo to substitute for a bribe, which reduces corruption.
Appropriate networks are more easily established in small towns, by long-term residents of
areas with many other long-term residents, and by individuals in regions with many residents
their own age. I confirm that the prevalence of bribery is lower under these circumstances,
using the International Crime Victim Surveys. I also find that older people, who have had time
to develop a network, bribe less. These results highlight the uphill nature of the battle against
corruption faced by policy-makers in rapidly urbanizing countries with high fertility. I show that
victims of (other) crimes bribe all types of public officials more than non-victims, and argue
that both their victimization and bribery stem from a distrustful environment.
We use cookies to provide you with an optimal website experience. This includes cookies that are necessary for the operation of the site as well as cookies that are only used for anonymous statistical purposes, for comfort settings or to display personalized content. You can decide for yourself which categories you want to allow. Please note that based on your settings, you may not be able to use all of the site's functions.
Cookie settings
These necessary cookies are required to activate the core functionality of the website. An opt-out from these technologies is not available.
In order to further improve our offer and our website, we collect anonymous data for statistics and analyses. With the help of these cookies we can, for example, determine the number of visitors and the effect of certain pages on our website and optimize our content.