On the Cultural Transmission of Corruption

We provide a cultural explanation to the phenomenon of corruption in the framework of an overlapping generations model with intergenerational transmission of values. We show that the economy has two steady states with different levels of corruption. The driving force in the equilibrium selection pro...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of economic theory 2002-12, Vol.107 (2), p.311-335
Main Authors: Hauk, Esther, Saez-Marti, Maria
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Corruption
cultural transmission
Culture
Economic theory
Ethics
Industrial economics
public education
Public schools
Studies
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Summary:We provide a cultural explanation to the phenomenon of corruption in the framework of an overlapping generations model with intergenerational transmission of values. We show that the economy has two steady states with different levels of corruption. The driving force in the equilibrium selection process is the education effort exerted by parents which depends on the distribution of ethics in the population and on expectations about future policies. We propose some policy interventions which via parents' efforts have long-lasting effects on corruption and show the success of intensive education campaigns. Educating the young is a key element in reducing corruption successfully. Journal of Economic Literature Classification Numbers: D10, J13.
ISSN:0022-0531
1095-7235
DOI:10.1006/jeth.2001.2956