Title Page
Governance, Corruption, & Economic Performance
George T. Abed
Sanjeev Gupta
Editors
International Monetary Fund
Washington, D.C. 2002
Copyright
© 2002 International Monetary Fund
Production: IMF Graphics Section
Cover design and charts: Sanaa Elaroussi
Typesetting: Alicia Etchebarne-Bourdin
Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Governance, corruption, and economic performance/editors, George T. Abed, Sanjeev Gupta—Washington, D.C.: International Monetary Fund, [2002].
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 1-58906-116-0
1. Political corruption—Economic aspects. 2. Political corruption—Economic aspects—Developing countries. 3. International Monetary Fund. I. Abed, George T. II. Gupta, Sanjeev. III. International Monetary Fund.
JF1081.G67 2002
Price: US$37.50
Address orders to:
International Monetary Fund, Publication Services
700 19th Street, N.W., Washington, D.C., 20431, U.S.A.
Tel.: (202) 623-7430 Telefax: (202) 623-7201
E-mail: publications@imf.org
Internet: http://www.imf.org
Contents
Foreword
Acknowledgments
Contributors
1 The Economics of Corruption: An Overview
George T. Abed and Sanjeev Gupta
Part I Causes and Consequences of Corruption
2 Corruption Around the World: Causes, Consequences, Scope, and Cures
Vito Tanzi
3 Bureaucratic Corruption and the Rate of Temptation: Do Wages in the Civil Service Affect Corruption and by How Much?
Caroline Van Rijckeghem and Beatrice Weder
4 Controlling Fiscal Corruption
Sheetal K. Chand and Karl O. Moene
5 A Game Theoretic Analysis of Corruption in Bureaucracies
Era Dabla-Norris
6 Institutionalized Corruption and the Kleptocratic State
Joshua Charap and Christian Harm
7 Does Mother Nature Corrupt? Natural Resources, Corruption, and Economic Growth
Carlos Leite and Jens Weidmann
8 Corruption, Growth, and Public Finances
Vito Tanzi and Hamid R. Davoodi
Part II Corruption and Government Expenditures
9 Corruption and the Composition of Government Expenditure
Paolo Mauro
10 Corruption and the Provision of Health Care and Education Services
Sanjeev Gupta, Hamid R. Davoodi, and Erwin R. Tiongson
11 Corruption, Public Investment, and Growth
Vito Tanzi and Hamid R. Davoodi
12 Corruption and Military Spending
Sanjeev Gupta, Luiz de Mello, and Raju Sharan
13 Fiscal Decentralization and Governance: A Cross-Country Analysis
Luiz de Mello and Matias Barenstein
Part III Corruption and Taxes
14 Tax Revenue in Sub-Saharan Africa: Effects of Economic Policies and Corruption
Dhaneshwar Ghura
15 Corruption, Extortion and Evasion
Jean Hindriks, Michael Keen, and Abhinay Muthoo
Part IV Corruption, Income Distribution, and Poverty
16 Production, Rent Seeking, and Wealth Distribution
Era Dabla-Norris and Paul Wade
17 Does Corruption Affect Income Inequality and Poverty?
Sanjeev Gupta, Hamid R. Davoodi, and Rosa Alonso-Terme
Part V Corruption and Transition Economies
18 Corruption, Structural Reforms, and Economic Performance in the Transition Economies
George T. Abed and Hamid R. Davoodi
19 Improving Governance and Fighting Corruption in the Baltic and CIS Countries: The Role of the IMF
Thomas Wolf and Emine Gürgen
The following symbols have been used throughout this volume:
… to indicate that data are not available;
— to indicate that the figure is zero or less than half the final digit shown, or that the item does not exist;
– between years or months (for example, 2000–01 or January-June) to indicate the years or months covered, including the beginning and ending years or months;
/ between years (for example, 2000/01) to indicate a fiscal (financial) year.
“Billion” means a thousand million.
Minor discrepancies between constituent figures and totals are due to rounding.
The term “country,” as used in this volume, does not in all cases refer to a territorial entity that is a state as understood by international law and practice; the term also covers some territorial entities that are not states, but for which statistical data are maintained and provided internationally on a separate and independent basis.
Foreword
For some time now, the IMF has recognized the important role of good governance in influencing economic performance. The IMF’s role in this area is founded on its mandate to promote macroeconomic stability and sustained noninflationary growth in member countries. Poor governance and widespread corruption cut into government revenues and lead to wasteful spending, thereby weakening the macroeconomic position of a country. Corruption also impinges on the effectiveness of the state, and erodes the confidence of the public in its institutions and policies. It is against this background that the IMF is actively promoting good governance in member countries through enhanced surveillance; the promulgation of standards and codes of good practice in the fiscal, monetary, and statistical areas; technical assistance to strengthen institutional capacity; and specific measures to address particular instances of poor governance and corruption in IMF-supported programs. While the IMF provides member countries with the know-how and the tools, the main responsibility for tackling these problems resides with the countries themselves.
The increased involvement of the IMF in governance issues has been facilitated by the growing consensus in the economics profession and in the international community at large on the adverse effects of corruption on economic performance. Recent empirical research, including that presented in this volume, documents the detrimental impact of corruption on economic growth, inflation, public finances, investment, poverty, and the provision of social services. In particular, studies demonstrate how weak and poorly run institutions fall prey to vested interests which, in effect “capture the state” and then use their power to preserve monopolies and extract rent, hinder competition, and inhibit economic reform. Corruption is equally damaging when those in positions of authority exploit their public trust to achieve personal gain. Such practices not only impose additional taxes on the economy, they also undermine the rule of law, which is essential to the proper functioning of a market economy.
In such situations, governments must be prepared to challenge vested interests and root out corruption. They need to foster transparency in the management of public funds and in the legal and regulatory frameworks, and must establish competent and impartial courts of law, trustworthy law enforcement agencies, and better trained, properly paid civil servants and judges. The global consensus on the importance of good governance can be effective only on the basis of the increased willingness and commitment of authorities to foster a transparent and accountable system of government at the national level. The IMF has always been ready to work with member countries to identify ways to reduce the risks of mismanagement and corruption in its areas of expertise. A case in point is the heavily indebted poor countries, where the IMF is working closely with the World Bank and national governments to ensure that additional spending, facilitated by the recently launched initiative to reduce their debt burdens, is channeled into programs that reduce poverty. This requires that concerted efforts be made to strengthen institutional reforms, especially in the areas of public expenditure management.
I welcome the publication of this volume. It has consolidated research by IMF staff on the impact of corruption and poor governance on macroeconomic performance. I hope that it will stimulate further research and wider discussion on this vitally important topic, both within and outside the IMF.
Horst Köhler
Managing Director
International Monetary Fund
Acknowledgments
This volume is a product of the collective effort of many individuals. In particular, we are grateful to the contributing authors for their papers. Most papers were originally issued as IMF Working Papers and the revised versions of some these papers were published in journals and other volumes. Thanks are due to Edward Elgar Publishing, Elsevier Science, Ltd., North-Holland Publishing Co., Routledge, and Springer for allowing us to reprint these articles.
Staff of the Fiscal Affairs Department’s Expenditure Policy Division provided valuable assistance. We are particularly grateful to Hamid Davoodi, Luiz de Mello, Shamit Chakravarti, Erwin Tiongson, and Meike Gretemann for their assistance and advice in compiling this volume. Special thanks are due to Suzanne Alavi, who managed the correspondence with authors and publishers and prepared the volume for publication. Esha Ray of the IMF’s External Relations Department edited the manuscript and coordinated production.
The views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the IMF.
George T. Abed
Sanjeev Gupta
Editors
Contributors
George T. Abed | Director, Middle East Department, IMF |
Rosa Alonso-Terme | Economist, Office of the Vice President, Economic Policy and Poverty Reduction, World Bank; formerly Economist, Fiscal Affairs Department, IMF |
Matias Barenstein | Department of Economics, University of California at Berkeley |
Sheetal K. Chand | Professor of Economics, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway; formerly Advisor, Fiscal Affairs Department, IMF |
Joshua Charap | Senior Economist, European I Department, IMF |
Era Dabla-Norris | Economist, IMF Institute, IMF |
Hamid R. Davoodi | Economist, Fiscal Affairs Department, IMF |
Luiz de Mello | Senior Economist, Fiscal Affairs Department, IMF |
Dhaneshwar Ghura | Deputy Division Chief, African Department, IMF |
Sanjeev Gupta | Assistant Director, Fiscal Affairs Department, IMF |
Emine Gürgen | Formerly Assistant to the Director, European II Department, IMF |
Christian Harm | Professor of International Business, University of Münster, Minister, Germany |
Jean Hindriks | Assistant Professor of Economics, CORE, Université Catholique de Louvain, Louvainla-Neuve, Belgium |
Michael Keen | Advisor, Fiscal Affairs Department, IMF |
Carlos Leite | Economist, African Department, IMF |
Paolo Mauro | Economist, Research Department, IMF |
Karl O. Moene | Professor of Economics, Department of Economics, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway |
Abhinay Muthoo | Professor of Economics, University of Essex, Colchester, United Kingdom |
Raju Sharan | Deputy Controller General of Accounts, Government of India, New Delhi, India |
Vito Tanzi | Undersecretary of State at the Ministry of Economy and Finance, Rome, Italy; formerly Director, Fiscal Affairs Department, IMF |
Erwin R. Tiongson | Senior Research Officer, Fiscal Affairs Department, IMF |
Paul Wade | Senior Economist, IMF Institute, IMF |
Beatrice Weder | Professor of Economics, University of Mainz, Mainz, Germany |
Jens Weidmann | Secretary General, German Council of Economic Experts, Bonn, Germany |
Thomas Wolf | Assistant Director, European II Department, IMF |
Caroline van Rijckeghem | Professor of Economics, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Sabanci University Campus, Istanbul, Turkey; formerly Economist, Research Department, IMF |
George T. Abed | Director, Middle East Department, IMF |
Rosa Alonso-Terme | Economist, Office of the Vice President, Economic Policy and Poverty Reduction, World Bank; formerly Economist, Fiscal Affairs Department, IMF |
Matias Barenstein | Department of Economics, University of California at Berkeley |
Sheetal K. Chand | Professor of Economics, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway; formerly Advisor, Fiscal Affairs Department, IMF |
Joshua Charap | Senior Economist, European I Department, IMF |
Era Dabla-Norris | Economist, IMF Institute, IMF |
Hamid R. Davoodi | Economist, Fiscal Affairs Department, IMF |
Luiz de Mello | Senior Economist, Fiscal Affairs Department, IMF |
Dhaneshwar Ghura | Deputy Division Chief, African Department, IMF |
Sanjeev Gupta | Assistant Director, Fiscal Affairs Department, IMF |
Emine Gürgen | Formerly Assistant to the Director, European II Department, IMF |
Christian Harm | Professor of International Business, University of Münster, Minister, Germany |
Jean Hindriks | Assistant Professor of Economics, CORE, Université Catholique de Louvain, Louvainla-Neuve, Belgium |
Michael Keen | Advisor, Fiscal Affairs Department, IMF |
Carlos Leite | Economist, African Department, IMF |
Paolo Mauro | Economist, Research Department, IMF |
Karl O. Moene | Professor of Economics, Department of Economics, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway |
Abhinay Muthoo | Professor of Economics, University of Essex, Colchester, United Kingdom |
Raju Sharan | Deputy Controller General of Accounts, Government of India, New Delhi, India |
Vito Tanzi | Undersecretary of State at the Ministry of Economy and Finance, Rome, Italy; formerly Director, Fiscal Affairs Department, IMF |
Erwin R. Tiongson | Senior Research Officer, Fiscal Affairs Department, IMF |
Paul Wade | Senior Economist, IMF Institute, IMF |
Beatrice Weder | Professor of Economics, University of Mainz, Mainz, Germany |
Jens Weidmann | Secretary General, German Council of Economic Experts, Bonn, Germany |
Thomas Wolf | Assistant Director, European II Department, IMF |
Caroline van Rijckeghem | Professor of Economics, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Sabanci University Campus, Istanbul, Turkey; formerly Economist, Research Department, IMF |