Corruption Across Countries and Regions: Some Consequences of Local Osmosis

Large and persistent differences in corruption across comparable countries is a challenging research issue. Even more intriguing are such differences across regions within the same country, because the typically considered socioeconomic and governance characteristics are generally more similar across such regions than across different countries. This paper’s principal theme is that individuals’ perceptions of their environments are influenced by the realities that they have faced in the past; these perceptions affect their current and future actions; which in turn influence the current and future realities. An articulation and analysis of these dynamics yields significant observations concerning individuals’ behavior and societal outcomes.