The effect of the Internet on corruption awareness and corruption incidence in the EU

What is it about?

It is obvious that the Internet connection brings several unquestionable benefits to people and society. However, not all of them can be seen at first sight. This study examines the potential effect of Internet usage on corruption awareness as well as experience with corruption and actual reporting of corruption cases. We conducted mainly IV probit and 2SLS regression based on the data from the Eurobarometer survey. We have found that the intensity of Internet usage seems to be a significant factor affecting respondents’ knowledge about where to report the corruption. Internet usage appears to have a positive effect on the accuracy of corruption extent estimation in a country. Moreover, our results strongly suggest that those using the Internet frequently are more likely to report experiences of corruption. In line with this result, promoting Internet usage and enabling Internet access can be seen as a potential anti-corruption tool. Our findings have several important implications for anti-corruption and bribery policies. Due to the fact that the initial installation cost proves to be an essential problem, the effective strategy should also include the subsidies for Internet access.

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Why is it important?

Key points for practitioners: - Respondents who are using the Internet more often have a better awareness of corruption, and they are more often willing to report the corruption. - The public support of internet usage seems to be a potentially effective anti-corruption policy, - Especially relatively high initial installation cost seems to be the most significant barrier to Internet adoption and usage.