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Determinants of Corruption in Middle East Countries: Evidence from Panel Data

Received: 25 October 2019    Accepted: 20 November 2019    Published: 25 November 2019
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Abstract

Corruption is as old as time, and it is really hard to find any country around the globe immune from corruption. According to World Bank (WB) and International Monetary Fund (IMF) corruption is defined as "the abuse of public or corporate office for private gain". Several decades ago, there were a number of studies conducted that provided significant determinants of corruption levels in many parts of the world. These variables that affect corruption can at times vary between regions. This study pinpoints some important factors that affect the corruption index in the Middle East countries. Based on data provided by Transparency International, the average number of corruption in the Middle East has recently become inflated. This study analyzes various economic and non-economic corruption determinants in the Middle East countries for the period between 2012 and 2018 using panel data to run two regression models. The results showed for economic variables that increasing in economic freedom, GDP per capita, and foreign direct investment significantly lead to decrease corruption phenomenon in the Middle East countries. whereas, the relationship between corruption and GDP growth, inflation, and openness trade index are statistically insignificant. Random effect panel data for non-economic variables model has been estimated. Unexpected relationship between democracy variable and CPI is stated, where higher democracy index leads to increasing in corruption in the Middle East countries. Education level and human development index have significantly effect on reducing corruption. Human development index should be increased by improve the level of the decent life among the societies. Even though the coefficient of female labor force is positive, it is statistically insignificant. Significant negative relationship between corruption and population as well as freedom index has been reported.

Published in International Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization (Volume 7, Issue 4)
DOI 10.11648/j.ijebo.20190704.11
Page(s) 57-63
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Corruption, Middle East Countries, Panel Data

References
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Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Abdulwahab Abdulqader Alsarhan. (2019). Determinants of Corruption in Middle East Countries: Evidence from Panel Data. International Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 7(4), 57-63. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijebo.20190704.11

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    ACS Style

    Abdulwahab Abdulqader Alsarhan. Determinants of Corruption in Middle East Countries: Evidence from Panel Data. Int. J. Econ. Behav. Organ. 2019, 7(4), 57-63. doi: 10.11648/j.ijebo.20190704.11

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    AMA Style

    Abdulwahab Abdulqader Alsarhan. Determinants of Corruption in Middle East Countries: Evidence from Panel Data. Int J Econ Behav Organ. 2019;7(4):57-63. doi: 10.11648/j.ijebo.20190704.11

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ijebo.20190704.11,
      author = {Abdulwahab Abdulqader Alsarhan},
      title = {Determinants of Corruption in Middle East Countries: Evidence from Panel Data},
      journal = {International Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization},
      volume = {7},
      number = {4},
      pages = {57-63},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijebo.20190704.11},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijebo.20190704.11},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijebo.20190704.11},
      abstract = {Corruption is as old as time, and it is really hard to find any country around the globe immune from corruption. According to World Bank (WB) and International Monetary Fund (IMF) corruption is defined as "the abuse of public or corporate office for private gain". Several decades ago, there were a number of studies conducted that provided significant determinants of corruption levels in many parts of the world. These variables that affect corruption can at times vary between regions. This study pinpoints some important factors that affect the corruption index in the Middle East countries. Based on data provided by Transparency International, the average number of corruption in the Middle East has recently become inflated. This study analyzes various economic and non-economic corruption determinants in the Middle East countries for the period between 2012 and 2018 using panel data to run two regression models. The results showed for economic variables that increasing in economic freedom, GDP per capita, and foreign direct investment significantly lead to decrease corruption phenomenon in the Middle East countries. whereas, the relationship between corruption and GDP growth, inflation, and openness trade index are statistically insignificant. Random effect panel data for non-economic variables model has been estimated. Unexpected relationship between democracy variable and CPI is stated, where higher democracy index leads to increasing in corruption in the Middle East countries. Education level and human development index have significantly effect on reducing corruption. Human development index should be increased by improve the level of the decent life among the societies. Even though the coefficient of female labor force is positive, it is statistically insignificant. Significant negative relationship between corruption and population as well as freedom index has been reported.},
     year = {2019}
    }
    

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    T1  - Determinants of Corruption in Middle East Countries: Evidence from Panel Data
    AU  - Abdulwahab Abdulqader Alsarhan
    Y1  - 2019/11/25
    PY  - 2019
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijebo.20190704.11
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    T2  - International Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization
    JF  - International Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization
    JO  - International Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization
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    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijebo.20190704.11
    AB  - Corruption is as old as time, and it is really hard to find any country around the globe immune from corruption. According to World Bank (WB) and International Monetary Fund (IMF) corruption is defined as "the abuse of public or corporate office for private gain". Several decades ago, there were a number of studies conducted that provided significant determinants of corruption levels in many parts of the world. These variables that affect corruption can at times vary between regions. This study pinpoints some important factors that affect the corruption index in the Middle East countries. Based on data provided by Transparency International, the average number of corruption in the Middle East has recently become inflated. This study analyzes various economic and non-economic corruption determinants in the Middle East countries for the period between 2012 and 2018 using panel data to run two regression models. The results showed for economic variables that increasing in economic freedom, GDP per capita, and foreign direct investment significantly lead to decrease corruption phenomenon in the Middle East countries. whereas, the relationship between corruption and GDP growth, inflation, and openness trade index are statistically insignificant. Random effect panel data for non-economic variables model has been estimated. Unexpected relationship between democracy variable and CPI is stated, where higher democracy index leads to increasing in corruption in the Middle East countries. Education level and human development index have significantly effect on reducing corruption. Human development index should be increased by improve the level of the decent life among the societies. Even though the coefficient of female labor force is positive, it is statistically insignificant. Significant negative relationship between corruption and population as well as freedom index has been reported.
    VL  - 7
    IS  - 4
    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • Economics Department, Public Authority for Applied Education and Training, Kuwait City, Kuwait

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