Virtual Event: Individualism and Attitudes towards Corruption Evidence from Post-Communist Economies

Individualistic values are often presented as promoting economic development; however, their links to relevant behaviour and preferences at the micro-level remain under-explored. Here we investigate the relationship between individualistic values and personal attitudes towards corruption reporting. While corruption and bribery are deemed detrimental to a number of macro outcomes, and between country cultural differences matter with respect to tolerance towards corruption and the paying of bribes, very little is known of the micro-level mechanisms relating to tolerating corruption, and one’s willingness to take action against it. We address this gap here. By focussing on post-communist countries, we are further able to analyse a region associated with a relatively high prevalence of corruption, and where from a common communist past, economic and political liberalisation has progressed unevenly, giving rise to a broad range of institutional contexts. Our findings indicate that individualism is associated with a greater likelihood to act against corruption. The effect estimated is small but highly significant and it is a direct effect, rather than an effect mediated through institutional trust or perception of corruption. In fact, we find some evidence that institutional trust and individualism strengthen each other to generate greater willingness to report corruption. Values are thus important to our understanding of corruption persistence.

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