Corruption and its Repercussions on Employment, Poverty and Inequality: Rwanda and South Africa Compared

Abstract

Effective statecraft is founded on governance, planning and policy execution foundations that are historically derived and conditioned. In contemporary times, effective statecraft supposedly centres on 'sustainable' development paradigms and frameworks. This paper examines the connection between state construction and contemporary statecraft-refracted through anti-corruption policy and implementation-and their combined repercussions on employment, poverty and inequality. These include the challenges encountered by the proliferation of corruption, which many posit to be the 'key enemy' of good governance and, by extension, 'sustainable' development. Using Rwanda and South Africa as case studies, it is demonstrated that fighting corruption cannot be disconnected from power, political economy, the dynamics of public policy formulation, and the mechanics of policy implementation. This paper posits an association between specific types of patrimonialism, economic performance and service delivery with attendant consequences for employment generation, poverty eradication and reducing inequality.

Political stability and corruption nexus: an international perspective on European and Asian countries

“…Because people's incomes drop during a recession and businesses have less money to spend on monitoring and prosecuting corruption, corrupt practices are likely to grow (Gill, 2011). The relationship between them may also be shown from the other side, since corruption has been shown in certain studies to exacerbate poverty (Khan and Pillay, 2019).…”

“…Different factors, some of which are economic and others which are noneconomic (Ahmad et al, 2021) determine corruption. Consumer Price Index (CPI), economic growth, economic freedom, public spending and poverty are only a few of the economic factors that have been recognized by economic research as having an impact on corruption (Ali and Isse, 2003;Al-Marhubi, 2000;Ata and Arvaz, 2011;Bosco, 2016;Gundlach and Paldam, 2009;Justesen and Bjørnskov, 2014;Khan and Pillay, 2019;Omidi et al, 2017;Ondo, 2017;Saha et al, 2009;Saha and Su, 2012;Turedi and Altiner, 2016;Wang, 2016). A number of political issues, including political stability, accountability and form of government, have also been connected to corruption (Achim et al, 2018;Bosco, 2016;Choi et al, 2020;Curti and Mihov, 2018;Kubbe and Engelbert, 2018;Liu, 2020;Sen, 2021, 2023;Schumacher, 2013;Zeeshan et al, 2022;Zhang, 2023;Zhu, 2020).…”

“…, 2021) determine corruption. Consumer Price Index (CPI), economic growth, economic freedom, public spending and poverty are only a few of the economic factors that have been recognized by economic research as having an impact on corruption (Ali and Isse, 2003; Al-Marhubi, 2000; Ata and Arvaz, 2011; Bosco, 2016; Gundlach and Paldam, 2009; Justesen and Bjørnskov, 2014; Khan and Pillay, 2019; Omidi et al. , 2017; Ondo, 2017; Saha et al.…”

Economic and Non-Economic Variables Affecting Fraud in European Countries

“…The risk of poverty and the financial deterioration experienced by the population increases corruption, while strong social conditions may reduce it (Bosco 2016), suggesting the presence of a positive relation between poverty and corruption. The link between them can also be interpreted from the inverse direction, as some studies have highlighted that corruption aggravates poverty (Khan and Pillay 2019).…”

“…Literature on this issue has focused mainly on the influence of corruption and financial criminality on unemployment, emphasizing that the corruption has a statistically significant negative impact on employment (Cooray and Dzhumashev 2018). Corruption and the failure to eradicate it contribute significantly to the amplification of unemployment (Khan and Pillay 2019;Lim 2019). It has also been noticed that there exists a positive relation between corruption practices of paying bribes and the unemployment rate among youth and educated job applicants, who in turn continue to support these illegal practices (Bouzid 2016).…”