Corruption, Institutional Quality and Economic Growth in West African Countries (1995-2017)

Abstract

This study examines the relationship among corruption, institutional quality and economic growth; and analyses the interaction effects of corruption and institutional qualities such as political stability and absence of violence (pv), government effectiveness (ge), regulatory quality (rq), control of corruption (cc), voice and accountability (va), and rule of law (rl) on economic growth (gdp) in West African Countries. Time series data covering the period between 1995 and 2017 were employed with Panel VAR method. Our results showed that corruption (cp) and economic growth are negatively related at lag one, and positively related at lag two, but the results were statistically insignificant. All institutional quality indicators, except ge are negatively related to economic growth at lag one, but at lag 2, positively related except rq, cc, and pv. These results were also statistically insignificant, except that of pv which is statistically significant.Our results also showed that interaction of control of corruption with corruption (cccp); regulatory quality with corruption (rqcp); and political stability and absence of violence with corruption (pvcp) negatively affect economic growth in West Africa both at lag one and two and were statistically insignificant. These results are expected in countries that are poorly rated both in terms of corruption and institutional quality. The study suggests reasonable policy interventions aimed at reducing the incidence of corruption as well as improving institutional quality in West Africa Countries.