中文摘要
政治腐败是否会侵蚀公民价值观并助长不诚实行为?我以墨西哥为背景,结合地方政府腐败数据与学校考试作弊数据来检验这一假说。我发现,在地方官员腐败行为被揭露之后,中学生在认知测试中的作弊显著增加。该效应幅度大且稳健,并在不当行为被揭露后持续一年以上。这些发现得到了个体调查数据的印证:与在此前不久接受访谈的相似个体相比,在腐败被揭露后随即接受访谈的个体报告自己更不诚实、更不可信,也更倾向于认为作弊是取得成功的必要手段。
Abstract
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.