DO LITERACY AND A MATURE DEMOCRATIC REGIME CURE CORRUPTION?

Using a cross-national panel data, we investigate the combined effect of education attainment and a durable democratic system on the corruption levels of a nation. Higher levels of education foster a sense of ethical behavior and civic duty in the citizenry by raising awareness, which in turn, should reduce corruption. Decades-long tradition of democracy, on the other hand, increases government transparency and accountability as politicians have to seek reelection, and thus, stable democratic system should reduce political corruption. Our empirical results suggest that the combined effect of these variables reduces corruption significantly, and a durable democracy and education behave as complements in combating corruption. Additionally, our marginal estimates show that durability successfully enhances the effect of literacy in curbing corruption.