Determinants of corruption pressures on local government in the E.U.

Ekonomska Istraživanja

Jelena Budak¹  Edo Rajh¹  Sunčana Slijepčević² 

[1] Department for Innovation, Business Economics and Business Sectors​, The Institute of Economics;Department for Regional Development, The Institute of Economics;

关键词: local government;    fiscal decentralisation;    government effectiveness;    corruption;    post-transition countries (ptcs);    europe;   

DOI  :  10.1080/1331677X.2020.1774793

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

This article investigates corruption pressures at the sub-national government level by employing a novel approach of empirically assessing the subjective opinions of local councillors about corruption risks they have been exposed to. Based on the large survey data collected in 14 European countries we provide evidence that individual perceptions of corruption risk experienced by local councillors are formed by their personal characteristics, where educational attainment stands as the most significant deterrent to corruption risk. The comparative assessment of non-transition and post-transition countries (PTCs) shows that respondents from PTCs exhibit higher levels of perceived corruption pressures on the local government level (PCL). In non-transition countries, councillors in the local government units with more fiscal power are more exposed to corruption. When government effectiveness is included, the effect of transition process and local fiscal decentralisation loses significance. Government effectiveness appears to be a strong tool to alleviate the corruption pressure at the local government level, in particular for younger councillors in PTCs The findings shed more light on the issues of corruption, which is a striking problem at the sub-national government level in the E.U. Policy implications and suggestions for future research are offered.

【 授权许可】

Unknown