Factors influencing political corruption. An empirical research study of regional governments

International organisations assert that political corruption is a major global problem. However, it is still unclear how to combat corruption. Previous research has studied corruption in central or local governments, rarely in regional ones. In this paper, we aim to identify factors influencing poli...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International review of administrative sciences 2024-03, Vol.90 (1), p.149-166
Main Authors: Raya-Quero, Daniel, Navarro-Galera, Andrés, Sáez-Lozano, José Luis
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Corruption
Elections
Foreign born citizens
Government spending
Ideology
Immigrants
International organizations
Local government
Panel data
Politics
Regional government
Regions
Research methodology
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Summary:International organisations assert that political corruption is a major global problem. However, it is still unclear how to combat corruption. Previous research has studied corruption in central or local governments, rarely in regional ones. In this paper, we aim to identify factors influencing political corruption in regional governments. Using panel data, we analyse the statistical association between 29 economic, financial, political and socioeconomic variables and the corruption perceived by citizens, from January 2006 to September 2019. The results reveal that perceived political corruption is affected by government spending and ideological distance, among other factors. We propose several measures to reduce political corruption. Points for practitioners The study has found that political corruption needs to be combatted through different measures for each administrative level. Our results support the idea that the following variables influence the perceived level of corruption within the regional governments: the volume of government borrowing, the ideological distance between the voter and the government, the percentage electoral participation and the volume of dependent and immigrant population of the region. Likewise, we also confirm that regional governments with higher values on the Quality of Government Index are perceived as less corrupt.
ISSN:0020-8523
1461-7226
DOI:10.1177/00208523231159244