DP7168 Disclosure by Politicians

Author(s): Simeon Djankov , Rafael La Porta , Florencio López-de-Silanes , Andrei Shleifer

Publication Date: February 2009

Keyword(s): Business interests , Conflict of interest , Disclosure , Politicians

JEL(s): H7

Programme Areas: Development Economics

Link to this Page: www.cepr.org/pubs/dps/DP7168.asp.asp

We collect data on the rules and practices of financial and conflict disclosure by politicians in 175 countries. Although two thirds of the countries have some disclosure laws, less than a third make disclosures available to the public. Disclosure is more extensive in richer and more democratic countries. Disclosure is correlated with lower perceived corruption when it is public, when it identifies sources of income and conflicts of interest, and when a country is a democracy.