Public corruption by officials may not be as rampant as reported
Monday, March 7, 2016 - 18:30
in Psychology & Sociology
The phrase "public corruption" invokes images of former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich or disgraced Virginia Governor Robert McDonnell. Often shaped by sensational media coverage of high officials, the public's general perception of corruption in the U.S. is that it is on the rise. Jeffrey Milyo, a professor of economics at the University of Missouri, examined thousands of corruption cases from 1986 to 2014 and found that corruption convictions are not increasing as fast as the public may think and mostly involve low-ranking officials.