What factors are associated with public corruption perception? Evidence from Canada
ISSN: 1359-0790
Article publication date: 28 July 2023
Issue publication date: 29 April 2024
Abstract
Purpose
Corruption perception is essential to study because it can shape people’s attitudes toward the government. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to address this key question: what factors are associated with a non-expert’s judgment of whether Canada is corrupt?
Design/methodology/approach
This study uses the World Value Survey conducted in Canada in October 2020. This survey is based on a nationally representative sample of a cross-section of adult Canadian residents, including Canadian citizens and permanent residents and those who are neither Canadian citizens nor permanent residents.
Findings
Based on this study, some conclusions can be made. First, people accessing corruption news from the traditional news media are less likely than those receiving information from the new media to perceive the state (in this case, Canada) as corrupt. Second, people who have less confidence in public institutions are more likely to perceive a country as corrupt. Third, people who participate in electoral and non-electoral forms of political participation are more likely to perceive the state and its public officials as corrupt. Fourth, regardless of which political party is in power, individuals who lean right politically are more likely than those on the left to perceive the state as corrupt. Finally, immigrants are less likely than those born in Canada to perceive the state as corrupt. This work enriches the literature on the substantive understanding of the factors associated with corruption perception.
Originality/value
Studies investigating factors associated with public perception of corruption tend to focus on developing countries. The current study contributes to filling this gap in knowledge by examining correlates of corruption perception in Canada. As a result, this study contributes to the literature on factors associated with corruption perception, especially in the developed country context.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors thank the Journal of Financial Crime editors and reviewers for their time and useful comments.
Funding: The authors did not receive any funding or grant from any person, agency or organization for this work.
Declarations/conflict of interest: The authors did not receive funds, grants or other support or benefits from any organization for the submitted work. Therefore, they have no conflict of interest in any form or kind as far as this manuscript is concerned.
Citation
Asomah, J.Y., Dim, E.E., Li, Y. and Cheng, H. (2024), "What factors are associated with public corruption perception? Evidence from Canada", Journal of Financial Crime, Vol. 31 No. 3, pp. 524-544. https://doi.org/10.1108/JFC-04-2023-0078
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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