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I paid a bribe: Information Sharing and Extortionary Corruption

Author

Listed:
  • Dmitry Ryvkin

    (Department of Economics, Florida State University)

  • Danila Serra

    (Department of Economics, Southern Methodist University)

  • James Tremewan

    (Department of Economics, University of Vienna)

Abstract
Theoretical and empirical research on corruption has flourished in the last three decades; however, identifying successful anti-corruption policies remains a challenge. In this paper we ask whether bottom-up institutions that rely on voluntary and anonymous reports of bribe demands, such as the "I paid a bribe" website first launched in India in 2010, could act as effective anti-corruption tools, and, if this is the case, whether and how their effectiveness could be improved. We overcome measurement and identification problems by addressing our research questions in the laboratory. Our results suggest that the presence of a reporting platform significantly reduces bribe demands. The most effective platform is one where posting is restricted to service recipients and where posts disclose specific information about the size of the bribes and the location of their requestors, i.e., a platform that could serve as a search engine for the least corrupt officials.

Suggested Citation

  • Dmitry Ryvkin & Danila Serra & James Tremewan, 2015. "I paid a bribe: Information Sharing and Extortionary Corruption," Working Papers wp2015_07_01, Department of Economics, Florida State University.
  • Handle: RePEc:fsu:wpaper:wp2015_07_01
    as

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    File URL: https://coss.fsu.edu/econpapers/wpaper/wp2015_07_01.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. Dmitry Ryvkin & Danila Serra, 2016. "The Industrial Organization of Corruption: Monopoly, Competition and Collusion," Working Papers wp2016_10_01, Department of Economics, Florida State University.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    information sharing; extortionary corruption; experiment; crowdsourcing;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D73 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Bureaucracy; Administrative Processes in Public Organizations; Corruption
    • D49 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design - - - Other
    • C91 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Laboratory, Individual Behavior

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