The political economy of corruption in Africa: urbanization, trust, and motivations

Abstract

The modernization paradigm has shaped development policies in African countries for decades since the 1960s. In this tradition, urbanization is presented by conventional wisdom as a strong correlate of development with mostly positive effects. However, this claim has been only tested in a restricted setting, primarily developed nations. Moreover, few studies have theoretically and empirically considered the drawbacks of urbanization on development outcomes, even when growing evidence suggest that African countries have urbanized at rapid rates in recent decades but achieved little to no economic development. This dissertation departs from conventional wisdom by arguing that urbanization--the most prominent sign of modernization--lowers the costs and raises the benefits of corruption in Africa such that it is a contributing factor to corruption. Unlike in most developed countries, the transition from the community-based life in the village to an individualistic lifestyle in the city decreases the costs and increases the benefits of being corrupt. Using a broad range of methodologies, including time-series cross-sectional data analysis, survey experiments, and interviews, the findings here show that contrary to conventional narratives, urbanization may pose a threat to development by encouraging corruption. This dissertation thus suggests that policymakers should be more cautious in approaching urbanization in development planning. Further, it brings empirical evidence that reveals that anti-corruption campaigns appealing to traditional African values such as collectivism and altruism may be a promising route.