Abstract:
The aim of this paper is to study the relationship between decentralization and corruption in Brazil during the 2007-2010 period using corruption information from the anti-corruption program by the Comptroller General of the Union. We investigate whether the results of Peixoto et al. (2012) for the Southeast region are valid for the country as a whole. These estimates are important because Brazil has a very unequal regional socioeconomic pattern and because the decentralization process is still ongoing. Two measures of decentralization were used: an indicator of fiscal decentralization and a measure of administrative decentralization. Results suggest that there is a negative and statistically significant relationship between administrative decentralization and corruption in health programs managed by municipalities, in contrast to the previous evidence for the Souhteast region. On the other hand, no significant change is observed on the effects of financial decentralization.
Keywords:
decentralization; corruption; health sector; counting data