Political Economy of Corruption and Good Governance

Seminar focuses on corruption—the abuse of public power for private gain—as a generic research question and practical policy problem. Reviews the theoretical and empirical analyses by economists, political scientists, and policy analysts that attempt to sort out systematically corruption's underlying causes, global distribution, and consequences for growth, investment, government expenditure, income distribution, and regime support. Examines what the literature implies about the desirability and prospects for success and prescriptions, if any, for hurrying good governance along. Open only to graduate students in political science.