The Power of Example: Corruption Spurs Corruption
研究墨西哥地方政府腐败对学生考试作弊行为的影响，发现官员腐败曝光后学生作弊显著增加，且该效应持续一年以上，表明政治腐败会侵蚀公民诚信。
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.