The Dividends of Good Governance

Building on an extensive literature on corruption, growth, and development, the article shows that corruption is not simply associated with lower levels of socioeconomic development, but that it also has a significant causal effect on a country's level of socioeconomic development. The basic implication of the findings presented in the article is that the reduction in the level of corruption in a given country leads to greater wealth, higher levels of education, longer life expectancy, and lower infant mortality-this is why we speak of the dividends of good governance.