Choose an application

• Reference Manager
• EndNote
• RefWorks (Direct export to RefWorks)

What sorts of conditions make some countries more prone to corruption than the others? This is an important question for understanding how corruption arises and how to combat it. The present paper attempts to answer this question by exploring the link between the size of the country and corruption. Economic theory suggests advantages and disadvantages of being a large country. Fixed costs in monitoring and punishing corrupt politicians and bureaucrats implies lower corruption in larger countries. However, congestion or administrative costs may escalate with country size. Further, greater diversity in the larger countries implies that such countries may find it harder to reach a consensus on growth-enhancing anti-corruption reforms. Thus, the corruption and country size relationship is an empirical issue. Using firm-level survey data for 135 countries, this paper finds that the level corruption experienced by the firms is positively correlated with country size. This holds for a measure of overall corruption and petty corruption that arises in availing specific government services. According to a conservative estimate, moving from a country the size of Namibia (25th percentile level in size) to a country the size of Morocco (75th percentile level) is associated with an increase in the level of overall corruption by 0.28 percentage point or about 23 percent of its mean value. The results are robust to several controls, alternative corruption measures, sample alternations, and different country size measures.

Administration Costs --- Bribes --- Corruption --- Country Size --- Gender --- Gender and Development --- Labor Markets --- Law and Development --- Marketing --- Population --- Private Sector Development --- Private Sector Development Law --- Private Sector Economics

Choose an application

• Reference Manager
• EndNote
• RefWorks (Direct export to RefWorks)

This paper employs the synthetic control method to examine the impact of using a non-native language as the medium of instruction in schools on a student's learning. Exploiting an unanticipated policy change in Malaysia and using data from the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Studies, the results show that changing the medium of instruction negatively influenced eighth graders' achievement in mathematics and science. The differential performance, by year and gender, suggests that using a non-native language throughout a student's schooling may have greater negative impact on the student's learning than switching the language of instruction in the middle of the student's schooling does. This paper sheds light on the various manners in which a language policy can adversely affect a student's learning outcomes. It also highlights how the transition in switching the language of instruction in schools can be implemented more effectively to mitigate its adverse effects.

Culture and Development --- Curriculum and Instruction --- Education --- Education For All --- Educational and and Planning --- Effective Schools and Teachers --- Language and Communication --- Language Of Instruction --- Language Policy --- Migration --- Native Tongue --- Poverty Reduction --- Student Learning --- Student Performance --- Synthetic Control Method --- Test Score