The Impact of Economic, Legal and Political Factors on Fiscal Corruption: A Cross-Country Study

Abstract:     
The present study identifies major economic, legal and political determinants of fiscal corruption, and systematically investigates the extent to which these determinants explain differences in fiscal corruption internationally. Based on cross-country data for 48 countries, the regression results indicate that the higher the level of the rule of law, democracy, government size and economic development, and the lower the level of tax law complexity, the lower is the level of fiscal corruption across countries. These regression results appear relatively robust to a set of plausibly important control variables and to standard instrumental variable strategies used in the existing literature.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 34

Keywords: Fiscal corruption, Rule of law, Democracy, Government size, Economic development, Tax law complexity

JEL Classification: E62, H87, K34

Accepted Paper Series