Corrupt States Research Articles

Fiscal consequences of public corruption: Empirical evidence from state bond ratings

Empirical analyses of public corruption focus predominantly on international differences; regional differences in public corruption within a single country receive little attention. We empirically investigate the effect of public corruption in the United States on state bond ratings, which previous research shows are inversely related to net interest costs on public debt. After controlling for various economic influences on bond ratings, we find that more corrupt states have lower bond ratings, which implies that taxpayers in more corrupt states face a negative pecuniary externality by paying a premium for debt.

Corruption and Municipal Finance

I examine the effect that state-level public corruption has on municipal financing activities in the United States. Corruption has a strong adverse impact on total bond issuance costs and state debt ratings, but not on individual bonds' ratings. This is because corrupt states are more likely to use institutional means to partially mitigate the negative effects of corruption. Strikingly, the impact that corruption has on issuance costs vanishes for credit-enhanced bonds and for locally underwritten bonds, but not for bonds underwritten by high reputation investment banks. These results are useful for understanding the costs of corruption and how institutions can attenuate corruption's negative effects.

ECONOMIC REFORM AND SOUTH ASIAN DEVELOPMENT: REVIEW OF LESSONS FROM THE EXPERIENCE OF EAST AND SOUTHEAST ASIA

This paper argues that one must be careful in drawing lessons from the development experience of East and Southeast Asia. The economic strategy followed by these countries was not one of free trade, or even simulated free trade. Instead, in these countries key conditions were created which provided hospitable environments for investment coordination. It was the ensuing boom in investment which generated rapid economic development. The current economic problems of this region are not the result of corrupt states or crony capitalism, none of which are new to the region, but the result of an inability to engage in economic restructuring