Financial Reforms and Corruption: Evidence Using GMM Estimation

Abstract

This paper assesses the impact of financial reforms on corruption using a panel of 87 countries for 1984-2005. To account for the dynamic nature and high persistence of corruption, the paper employs the difference and system generalized method of moments (GMM) estimators. It finds that policy reforms targeted towards financial liberalization reduce corruption. This result is robust to the inclusion of a number of control variables and the choice of the GMM estimator. Interestingly, the financial liberalization index is found to be positively correlated with corruption though this relationship is not robust. The findings also indicate that legal origins do not impose a binding constraint on the effectiveness of financial reforms in reducing corruption.

Keywords: Corruption, Financial Reforms, Government Size, Legal Origins, Liberalization, Openness

JEL Classification: D73, G28, K42, O16