Corruption is generally considered to be a curse. It flouts rules of fairness and gives some people advantages that others don't have. Corruption transfers resources from the mass public to the elites - and generally from the poor to the rich (Tanzi, 1998). It acts as an extra tax on citizens,...

Using data from US states, we find a positive relationship between trust and growth. According to our results, a 10 percentage point increase in trust increases the growth rate of per capita income by 0.5 percentage point, growth rate of housing prices by 1.25 percentage points, and the growth...