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Cultural Persistence in Corruption, Economic Growth, and the Environment

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posted on 2023-05-26, 10:41 authored by Dimitrios Varvarigos

Evidence that attributes current environmental outcomes to historical and cultural origins has gained momentum in recent years. In this study, I construct a model to demonstrate why the relation between economic growth and environmental quality hinges on the deeply rooted cultural traits that govern attitudes towards corruption. Specifically, I show that the cultural transmission of the traits that determine the corruptibility of public officials, who are entrusted with the inspection and reporting of firms’ emissions, leads to history-dependant outcomes. It sets in motion either a vicious circle of corruption, high pollution and low economic growth, or a virtuous circle where corruption does not infringe environmental policy, pollution is lower and economic growth is higher. These outcomes have major policy implications. 

History

Author affiliation

School of Business, University of Leicester

Version

  • VoR (Version of Record)

Published in

Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control

Volume

147

Publisher

Elsevier

issn

0165-1889

Copyright date

2023

Available date

2023-05-26

Language

en

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