This dissertation studies how society views corruption at different stages of economic development. It develops a theoretical framework that shows that at low levels of income or development, corruption increases and at high levels of income and development, corruption decreases. This theoretical proposition is also investigated empirically. The empirical analyses support the proposed theory and hint that fiscal policy, socioeconomic conditions, and incidences of war play significant roles in determining a country’s corruption level.
In addition, this dissertation also explores the relationship between merchandise and service trade. I show theoretically that the two are related and determined simultaneously. An empirical investigation also confirms this proposition.
Lastly, I investigate the issue of pollution in developing countries. I explore the existence of an inverted u-shaped relationship between emissions and income. I examine the role played by foreign investment in improving emissions in developing countries. The results support the inverted u-shaped relationship and suggest that environmental aid does not reduce emissions in developing countries.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UTAHS/oai:digitalcommons.usu.edu:etd-5479 |
| Date | 01 August 2015 |
| Creators | Neequaye, Nii Amon |
| Publisher | DigitalCommons@USU |
| Source Sets | Utah State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | All Graduate Theses and Dissertations |
| Rights | Copyright for this work is held by the author. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owner. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user. For more information contact Andrew Wesolek (andrew.wesolek@usu.edu). |
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