Data and Code for "The Power of Example: Corruption Spurs Corruption"

Principal Investigator(s):  View help for Principal Investigator(s) Nicolas Ajzenman, São Paulo School of Economics

Version:  View help for Version V1

Name File Type Size Last Modified
  Corruption_Final 06/01/2020 09:35:AM
readme.pdf application/pdf 167.2 KB 06/01/2020 05:39:AM

Project Citation: 

Ajzenman, Nicolas. Data and Code for “The Power of Example: Corruption Spurs Corruption.” Nashville, TN: American Economic Association [publisher], 2021. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2021-03-16. https://doi.org/10.3886/E118971V1

Project Description

Summary:  View help for Summary Does political corruption erode civic values and foster dishonest behavior? I test this hypothesis in the context of Mexico by combining data on local government corruption and cheating on school tests. I find that, following revelations of corruption by local officials, secondary students' cheating on cognitive tests increases significantly. The effect is large and robust and persists for over a year after malfeasance is revealed. These findings are validated by evidence from individual survey data, which documents that individuals interviewed right after corruption is revealed report being less honest, less trustworthy, and more prone to thinking that cheating is necessary to succeed, compared to similar individuals interviewed just beforehand.

Scope of Project

Subject Terms:  View help for Subject Terms Corruption; cheating; social norms
JEL Classification:  View help for JEL Classification
      A13 Relation of Economics to Social Values
      D73 Bureaucracy; Administrative Processes in Public Organizations; Corruption
      H72 State and Local Budget and Expenditures
      K42 Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law
      O12 Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development
      P16 Capitalist Systems: Political Economy
      Z10 Cultural Economics; Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology: General
Geographic Coverage:  View help for Geographic Coverage Mexico
Time Period(s):  View help for Time Period(s) 1/2006 – 12/2013
Universe:  View help for Universe Students of ages between 8 and 15
Data Type(s):  View help for Data Type(s) administrative records data; aggregate data; census/enumeration data; survey data

Methodology

Data Source:  View help for Data Source

* DATA SOURCES:


- Cheating Data: Secretaria de Educacion Publica de Mexico (SEP). All the files by year can be downloaded from this website:

https://www.inee.edu.mx/bases-de-datos-inee-2019#planea (Search "ENLACE"). Files are in csv format, by school and year (primary and secondary) for the entire period the test was conducted (2006-2013).
In 2019, the files were moved from their original website (www.enlace.sep.gob.mx). 

In case a link is broken or a file is missing in the new website, the information must be requested through an open-data request (the data is public, it is not confidential, it does not require any agreement and is already produced), here:
T
he requested data should include the following fields: (a) CVE_MUN (municipality code), (b) CVE_ENT (state code), (c) CCT (school code), (e) Turno (shift), (f) Cantidad de pruebas no confiables por grado (number of tests classified as "cheating" by grade), (g) Cantidad de alumnos evaluados por grado (number of tests per grade), 
and should be directed to the SEP (Secretaria de Educacion Publica). In the request, the level (Basica Primaria or Basica Secundaria: primary or secondary) must be stated.




- Corruption Data: Auditoria Superior de la Federacion

There is no single database. Data is provided in pdfs and must be manually transformed to DTA. All the original files, by year, can be accessed here:


Click in "Informe del Resultado de la Fiscalización Superior de la Cuenta Pública X" (where X = year) to access each file.

Once there, click in "Gasto Federalizado" (for instance, for 2010: https://www.asf.gob.mx/Trans/Informes/IR2010i/Indice/Auditorias.htm)

Then, look for "RAMO GENERAL 33. FONDO PARA LA INFRAESTRUCTURA SOCIAL MUNICIPAL (FISM)" and click in each municipality to download the report in pdf.





- Electoral Data-base (I): CIDAC


The full dataset can be downloaded here : http://cidac.org/base-de-datos-electoral/




- Electoral Data-base (II): INAFED Encyclopedia of Municipalities

The data can be downloaded from this link: http://www.snim.rami.gob.mx/

There, click on "Informacion Historica" and then "Presidentes Municipales". 

To build the database, it is necessary to search by municipality (one by one). First choosing state ("Entidad Federativa") and then municipality ("municipio"). 





- Perceptions of Corruption: Gabinete de Comunicacion Estrategica


It can be downloadad (in pdf) from this link: https://gabinete.mx/images/estudios/2007/encueta_nacional_2007.pdf

Or this one: https://docplayer.es/45997522-Encuesta-nacional-gobierno-sociedad-y-politica.html (exactly the same information, better resolution)



- Values Data: Mexican Family Life Survey (MxFLS)

Wave 1) It can be downloaded from here http://www.ennvih-mxfls.org/english/ennhiv-2.html


File: http://www.ennvih-mxfls.org/english/assets/hh05dta_all.zip --> contains ALL the datasets used in this paper from wave 1


Wave 2) It can be downloadad from here http://www.ennvih-mxfls.org/english/ennhiv-3.html

File: http://www.ennvih-mxfls.org/english/assets/hh09dta_all.zip --> contains ALL the datasets used in this paper from wave 2












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