Grand and petty corruption: a cross-national analysis of forest loss in low- and middle-income nations

2018

Sociological Inquiry

Self Cite

Conservationists and academics have long investigated the factors that impact forest loss in low-and middle-income nations. Characteristics of the state, namely state spending, may impact forest loss in low-and middle-income nations, although this relationship has been understudied and the limited research that exists has yielded contradictory results. I begin by reevaluating the relationship between state spending and forest loss using robust regression models for a sample of 97 low-and middle-income nations. Initially, in line with extant literature, I find no support for the idea that state spending is related to forest loss. However, I respecify the models to consider if state spending interacts with governance factors including political stability, control of corruption, rule of law, government effectiveness, and regulatory quality. Governance is defined as the state's ability to formulate, implement, and manage the nation's funds, policies, and procedures effectively. I find that state spending reduces forest loss more in nations with higher levels of governance than at lower levels of governance.

Section: Resultscontrasting

confidence: 93%

State Spending and Governance: A Cross‐National Analysis of Forest Loss in Developing Nations*

2018

Sociological Inquiry

Self Cite

“…In the executive, legislative, and public sectors, corruption refers to its members or agents granting favors in exchange for bribes, kickbacks, embezzlement, and misappropriation of public funds for personal or family use (Dahlberg et al 2019). In the judicial sector, corruption involves judges and their agents receiving undocumented extra payments or bribes from an individual or company to speed up, delay, or obtain a favorable decision (Sommer 2017). We hypothesize that higher levels of corruption should be related to increased forest loss.…”

Section: Total Population Growthmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…This is because corruption across sectors diverts government funds away from investment in conservation (Koyuncu and Yilmaz 2009). It also allows illegal logging and other violations of a country's forestry laws to go unenforced with little fear of punishment (Sommer 2017). Non-Governmental Organizations.…”

Section: Total Population Growthmentioning

confidence: 99%

Do China’s Environmental Gains at Home Fuel Forest Loss Abroad?: A Cross-National Analysis

Shandra

Restivo

2019

JWSR

The theory and empirical research on ecologically unequal exchange serves as the starting point for this study. We expand the research frontier it in a novel way by applying the theory to China and empirically testing if forestry export flows from low-and middle-income nations to China are related to increased forest loss in the exporting nations. In doing so, we analyze data for 75 low-and middle-income nations using ordinary least squares regression and find support for our main hypothesis.

“…Forest loss contributes to climate change, biodiversity loss, and it robs people of their livelihoods-especially in low-and middle-income nations. Various researchers have made the connection between forest loss and corruption in low-and middle-income nations cross-nationally (Meyer, van Kooten, & Wang, 2003;Barbier, Damania, & Lé onard, 2005;Bulte, Damania, & Lopez, 2007;Laurance, 2007;Koyuncu & Yilmaz 2009, 2013Sundström, 2016b;Sommer, 2017).…”

Section: Corruption and Forest Lossmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Sundstorm (2016a), as well as others such as Meehan and Tacconi (2017) and Barret, Gibson, Hoffman, and McCubbins (2006) suggest these inconsistent findings are due to a lack of theoretical frameworks of corruption and an absence of disaggregated data. In response, Sommer (2017) uses corruption data from the Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) (2016) and the Quality of Governments (QoG) institute to test how disaggregated data on executive or grand corruption, and public sector or petty corruption impacts forest loss. Using data for 87 low-and middle-income countries Sommer (2017) finds that both measures of corruption are related to forest loss.…”

Section: Corruption and Forest Lossmentioning

confidence: 99%

Corrupt Actions and Forest Loss: A Cross-National Analysis

2018

IJSSS

Extant literature documents the negative environmental impacts of corruption on forest loss. More recently, research has shown that both grand and petty corruption are associated with higher levels of forest loss in low- and middle-income nations. However, the extant research neglects to assess how different types of grand and petty corruption impact forest loss. To address the gap in the literature, this article differentiates the effect of various types of corrupt actions on forest loss. Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression for a sample of 87 low- and middle-income nations from 2000 is used to test if grand corrupt actions, namely embezzlement and bribes, and petty corrupt actions including theft and corrupt exchanges are related to increased forest loss. The dependent variable uses satellite forest data from 2001 to 2014. Results show that embezzlement, bribes, theft, and corrupt exchanges all impact forest loss, which suggests that policy measures to curb corruption should take a holistic approach to corruption, rather than rely on individual interventions.