The impact of economic well-being on perceptions of anti-corruption performance: Evidence from China

Abstract

Corruption studies have suggested that corrupt politicians may win public support by providing substantial economic benefits to their citizens and that if a government works effectively to promote economic development, people may forgive its corruption problems. Thus, there is a positive relationship between citizens' tolerance for political corruption and the economic benefits they receive from the government. Does economic well-being shape people's perceptions of corruption and the government's anticorruption performance? If so, how and to what extent? To address the questions, this study draws on empirical data from a nationwide survey conducted in China in 2011. China makes an ideal case for the study because, although its unprecedented economic growth significantly improved people's living standards, the country has continued to suffer from rampant corruption. China's case illustrates the intricate relationships between the rise of economic status-perceived or actual-and attitudes toward the government's anti-corruption efforts among citizens.

Socially Embedded Anti‐Corruption Governance: Evidence from Hong Kong

“…Most people said that their confidence would stay the same or increase, as indicated in Figure . Following the existing literature that citizens' retrospective and prospective views may affect their behaviour and corruption perceptions (Becher and Donnelly, ; Li et al ., ), we believe that these assessments may positively affect the rate of reporting corruption.…”

Cash transfers' effect on government support: the case of Fiji

“…More specifically, Ghatak et al (2016) show that individuals from affluent households are more likely to prefer cash to in-kind transfers than people from poorer households. Li et al (2015) show that people who feel better off and perceive themselves as high-status, in relative terms, are more satisfied with the anti-corruption performance of the government. This literature also confirms that positive evaluations are explained by relative income or salary.…”

“…They note that satisfaction with this provision increases as the household's service level improves, relative to that of its reference group. Li et al (2015) show that people who feel better off and perceive themselves as high-status, in relative terms, are more satisfied with the anti-corruption performance of the government.…”

How Do Intrinsic Motivations, Work‐Related Opportunities, and Well‐Being Shape Bureaucratic Corruptibility?

“…Second, research on corruption in China has focused largely on the correlation between corruption/anticorruption and economic development (e.g., Gong and Zhou 2015;Zhu 2017;Zhu and Zhang 2017) and citizens' attitudes toward corruption and anticorruption (e.g., Li, Xiao, and Gong 2015;Su and Ni 2018). No research has shed light on bureaucrats' motivations for corrupt behaviors.…”