Does Social Capital Effect on Economic Corruption?

Social capital is very closely related to collective behaviors and behaviors based on interpersonal relationships. Social capital can be an effective factor in corruption. Theoretical foundations show that social capital in different societies can have different effects on corruption. In this study, in order to test this hypothesis, data from countries (136 countries) in different income categories and in the period 2012-2020 were used. In addition, the panel data estimation method was used. The results of the study show that social capital can have a reducing effect on corruption in the studied countries. In addition, the impact of social capital on corruption will vary in different income categories around the world. In low-income countries, social capital has less effect and in high-income countries, social capital has a stronger effect on reducing corruption. This result can be attributed to the different structure of social capital at different income levels of countries and also the existence of different institutional arrangements in countries. The more appropriate contexts exist in societies, the more social capital created, the more favorable the effects on governance and the reduction of corruption.