Hot town, corruption in the city: Assessing the impact of form of government on corruption using propensity scores

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Afonso, Whitney; Nelson, Kimberly
• 署名单位: University of North Carolina; University of North Carolina Chapel Hill; University of North Carolina; University of North Carolina Chapel Hill
• 刊物名称: PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION REVIEW
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0033-3352
• DOI: 10.1111/puar.13737
• 发表日期: 2025
• 页码: 73-92
• 关键词: council-manager government; local-government; political corruption; ECONOMIC-FREEDOM; policies; cities; REFORM

摘要

This research explores the relationship between form of government and corruption using national municipal level data (1990-2020) using competing theoretical models; the principal-agent model and the professionalism-performance model. The principal-agent model suggests that the additional scrutiny provided by the electoral process will lead to a lower risk of corruption under the mayor-council form of government. The professionalism-performance model suggests that the professional training and incentives in place in the council-manager form will lead to a lower risk of corruption. However, it is difficult to examine the impact of the form of government on the incidence of corruption because there may be underlying community characteristics, such as population and poverty levels, that drive both the selection of form and corruption. Using propensity score matching and other propensity score methods to reduce the impact of confounding factors, this analysis finds robust evidence that the council-manager form reduces the risk of corruption, supporting the professionalism-performance model.