The Impact of Socio-Political Integration and Press Freedom on Corruption in Developing Countries

Do domestic institutions filter the effects of international openness on levels of government corruption? The analyses in this study demonstrate a more nuanced understanding of a previously understood phenomenon — that while openness has a negative relationship with corruption, sometimes this relationship is substantially influenced by the domestic context, a relationship that has been underdeveloped by previous empirical studies. However, as opposed to mainly economic factors of openness such as levels of trade or capital freedom, I highlight another salient type of globalization — social and political integration. Focusing exclusively on a sample of over 90 developing countries, I find that on the effect of openness on corruption is conditioned by domestic institutions. Namely, I examine the level of press freedoms in a country as an intervening variable. The empirical evidence suggests that while freedom of the press is less important for political openness to have a significant impact in combating corruption, a free press is essential for social openness to effect negatively government corruption