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Economies
Special Issues
Corruption, Institutions and the Macroeconomy
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Corruption, Institutions and the Macroeconomy

A special issue of Economies (ISSN 2227-7099). This special issue belongs to the section "Macroeconomics, Monetary Economics, and Financial Markets".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 January 2027 | Viewed by 875

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. George R. G. Clarke

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Division of International Banking and Finance Studies, A.R. Sanchez, Jr. School of Business, Texas A&M International University, 5001 University Blvd., Laredo, TX 78041, USA
Interests: development economics; political economy; corruption; institutions; Africa; privatization; competition; firm surveys
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Since the groundbreaking empirical studies of the 1990s (Knack and Keefer, 1995; Mauro, 1995), economists and political scientists have strived to uncover how corruption influences macroeconomic performance. Over time, this research agenda has explored the ways that corruption shapes productivity, investment, international trade, foreign direct investment, financial sector stability, inequality, public spending, and an array of other vital macroeconomic outcomes.

This Special Issue invites authors to push the boundaries of our understanding by examining these complex relationships in bold new ways. We seek papers that investigate how the effects of corruption have evolved across time and differ across countries and that shed light on the institutional forces that shape the relationship. We encourage submissions using not only macro-level data but also firm- and household-level analyses that can offer fresh insights into the interplay between corruption and macroeconomic development. Join us in advancing this dynamic field with innovative research that matters.

Knack, Stephen., & Philip Keefer, (1995). Institutions and economic performance: Cross-country tests using alternative institutional measures. Economics and Politics, 7(3), 207-227. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0343.1995.tb00111.x.

Mauro, P. (1995). Corruption and growth. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 110 (3), 681-712. https://doi.org/10.2307/2946696.

Prof. Dr. George R. G. Clarke
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Economies is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • corruption
  • regulation
  • growth
  • investment
  • international trade
  • bribes
  • institutions
  • foreign direct investment
  • productivity

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

28 pages, 1225 KB  
Article
Digitalization and Institutional Quality in the EU Shadow Economy: Complementarity, Substitution, and Nonlinearity
by Lavinia Mastac, Raluca Andreea Trandafir and Liliana Nicodim
Economies 2026, 14(4), 127; https://doi.org/10.3390/economies14040127 - 9 Apr 2026
Viewed by 591
Abstract
This study examines how digitalization and institutional quality jointly influence the size and dynamics of the shadow economy across EU member states. It adopts an integrated framework in which digital capacity is treated as an operational extension of state capacity that can either [...] Read more.
This study examines how digitalization and institutional quality jointly influence the size and dynamics of the shadow economy across EU member states. It adopts an integrated framework in which digital capacity is treated as an operational extension of state capacity that can either complement strong institutions or compensate for institutional weaknesses. The empirical analysis is based on a two-dataset panel covering 27 EU countries over the periods 2013–2022 and 2017–2022. Institutional quality is measured using the Worldwide Governance Indicators, while digitalization is captured through detailed indicators from the Digital Economy and Society Index. Fixed-Effects models with Driscoll–Kraay standard errors are employed, alongside interaction and nonlinear specifications. Results show that institutional quality is consistently associated with lower levels of the shadow economy, but its effect exhibits diminishing returns at higher levels of governance, indicating institutional saturation. Digitalization effects are domain-specific. In isolation, both citizen- and business-oriented digital services show a positive association with the shadow economy, a finding termed the Digitalization Paradox, reflecting a phase where technological facilitation of informal activity outpaces regulatory adaptation. However, their interaction with institutional quality reveals divergent mechanisms. Citizen-oriented services tend to substitute for weaker governance, while business-oriented services complement strong institutional frameworks. The findings indicate that digitalization serves as an institutional amplifier whose final impact on the shadow economy, whether formalizing or facilitating, is dictated by the maturity of the host institution. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Corruption, Institutions and the Macroeconomy)
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