La percepción del nivel de corrupción en Latinoamérica desde un enfoque multinivel

Abstract

The perception of corruption is revealed as the result of a plurality of values that determine the perspective of individuals against what they consider an act outside the established norms. Values that in turn refer both to the position and relationship of individuals with society, as well as the cultural and historical environment. Thus, the perception of corruption should be interpreted not as the reflection of an absolute situation, but as a phenomenon conditioned by a series of social and economic variables. In this sense, the purpose of this research is to identify the individual and aggregate factors that affect the level of perception of corruption of Latin Americans during the 2008-2017 period. To do this, using data from Latinobarómetro, ECLAC and the organizations Transparency International and Freedom House, an ordered logit model and a multilevel model are estimated. The results suggest that individual socioeconomic characteristics play a relevant role in shaping the perception of corruption. Although a lower income level is positively correlated with the perception of corruption, a favorable opinion of the democratic system has the opposite effect. On the other hand, the effect of the variable associated with macroeconomic performance is analyzed and, as expected, it is significant. In particular, the higher the GDP per capita, the greater the probability of perceiving corruption. Finally, the findings reveal a positive correlation between the Transparency International index and the level of perception of corruption.