Does perceived corruption matter in environmental policy? Revisiting the hypothesis for the OECD.

This paper discusses the conflictive relationship between the level of perceived corruption and the implementation of rigorous environmental policies. According to our initial assumption the higher the degree of perceived corruption, the more likely it is that governments will defend individual economic interests rather than environmental goals established to benefit society. Using the panel data for 26 developed countries belonging OECD from 1996 to 2012, we investigate the potential determinants of the Environmental Policy Stringency Index. The estimation of the fixed effects model confirms the assumption: perceived corruption negatively affects the development of ambitious policies in environmental field. Our empirical outcomes also hint at significant relationships between other institutional, political, social, or economic factors and the perception of corruption