The Impact of Socio-Political Integration and Press Freedom on Corruption in Developing Countries

Abstract

Do domestic institutions filter the effects of international openness on levels of government corruption? The analyses in this study demonstrate a more nuanced understanding of a previously understood phenomenon — that while openness has a negative relationship with corruption, sometimes this relationship is substantially influenced by the domestic context, a relationship that has been underdeveloped by previous empirical studies. However, as opposed to mainly economic factors of openness such as levels of trade or capital freedom, I highlight another salient type of globalization — social and political integration. Focusing exclusively on a sample of over 90 developing countries, I find that on the effect of openness on corruption is conditioned by domestic institutions. Namely, I examine the level of press freedoms in a country as an intervening variable. The empirical evidence suggests that while freedom of the press is less important for political openness to have a significant impact in combating corruption, a free press is essential for social openness to effect negatively government corruption.