Publication

This paper analyzes the impact of corruption on the extent of trust in political institutions. It uses a collection of comparable data provided by surveys conducted in 18 sub-Saharan African countries. The authors set out to test the 'efficient grease' hypothesis that corruption can strengthen citizens' trust since bribe paying and clientelism open the door to otherwise scarce and inaccessible services and subsidies, and that this increases institutional trust. The author's findings reject this theoretical argument.