Social capital predicts corruption risk in towns.

ABSTRACT: Corruption is a social plague: gains accrue to small groups, while its costs are borne by everyone. Significant variation in its level between and within countries suggests a relationship between social structure and the prevalence of corruption, yet, large-scale empirical studies thereof have been missing due to lack of data. In this paper, we relate the structural characteristics of social capital of settlements with corruption in their local governments. Using datasets from Hungary, we quantify corruption risk by suppressed competition and lack of transparency in the settlement's awarded public contracts. We characterize social capital using social network data from a popular online platform. Controlling for social, economic and political factors, we find that settlements with fragmente

SUBMITTER: Wachs J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6502378 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature