A review of the causes and effects of corruption in the economic analysis

Abstract

This study reviews the economists' efforts to explain the causes of corruption and its effects on economic performance. It consists of both an updated version of previous surveys and a rapid guide to the main achievements on this topic. Through this review we can appreciate that there is still conflicting evidence on the causality relationships between corruption and several variables such as economic growth, regulation, competition, and public spending, but also on potential beneficial or detrimental effects of corruption.