Corruption Dynamics: The Golden Goose Effect

Theoretical work on disciplining corrupt agents has emphasized the role of expected future rents?for example, efficiency wages. Yet taken seriously this approach implies that illicit future rents should also deter corruption. We study this "golden goose" effect in the context of a statutory wage increase in India's employment guarantee scheme, comparing official microrecords to original household survey data to measure corruption. We estimate large golden goose effects that reduced the total impact of the wage increase on theft by roughly 64 percent. In short, rent expectations matter

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Year of publication:	2013
Authors:	Niehaus, Paul ; Sukhtankar, Sandip
Published in:	American Economic Journal: Economic Policy. - American Economic Association - AEA. - Vol. 5.2013, 4, p. 230-69
Publisher:	American Economic Association - AEA

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Extent:	application/pdf application/zip
Type of publication:	Article
Notes:	DOI: 10.1257/pol.5.4.230
Classification:	D73 - Bureaucracy; Administrative Processes in Public Organizations; Corruption ; D82 - Asymmetric and Private Information ; H83 - Public Administration ; J41 - Contracts: Specific Human Capital, Matching Models, Efficiency Wage Models, and Internal Labor Markets ; K42 - Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law ; O17 - Formal and Informal Sectors; Shadow Economy; Institutional Arrangements ; O21 - Planning Models; Planning Policy
Source:	RePEc - Research Papers in Economics

Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10010704414