Corruption, public management and citizens’ quality of life: An integrative review
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22138744Keywords:
corruption, public management, quality of lifeAbstract
Corruption compromises public administration and affects citizens' living conditions, but evidence on this relationship remains scattered across contexts and dimensions of well-being. The objective was to analyze the available empirical evidence on the relationship between corruption and citizens' quality of life. An integrative, documentary-scope review was conducted, examining 25 quantitative studies published between 2008 and 2026, located in open-access academic sources, repositories, and indexed scientific publishers' platforms. The selection considered research in Spanish or English, with available full text and explicit results on corruption and well-being, health, security, or human development. The information was organized in a matrix and synthesized through thematic analysis. The results identified four converging pathways: perceptual, associated with lower institutional trust, happiness, and life satisfaction, and with greater impact on mental health; material, linked to lower healthcare spending and access, higher mortality, and lower life expectancy; citizen security, related to higher homicide rates; and human capital and development, expressed in educational and environmental deterioration and skilled emigration. Institutional trust, quality of governance, education, and inequality moderated these effects. It is concluded that corruption maintains a predominantly negative association with quality of life and demands comprehensive responses involving transparency, institutional oversight, citizen participation, and the protection of public services.
Downloads
References
Aguilar-Barceló, J. G., López-Leyva, S., & Mejía-Ramírez, M. (2023). Corrupción, inseguridad pública y bienestar subjetivo en México. Perfiles Latinoamericanos, 31(61). https://doi.org/10.18504/pl3161-012-2023
Albán, J. M., & Poma, A. E. (2019). Problemática del sistema de control interno para erradicar la corrupción en el Estado peruano. Yachaq, 1(2), 24. https://revista.uct.edu.pe/index.php/YACHAQ/article/view/70/113
Aslam, A., Mushtaq, U., Ghouse, G., & Raoof, R. (2025). Corruption and happiness: Fortune or evil? Journal of the Knowledge Economy, 16(1), 5693–5713. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13132-024-02077-7
Basna, K., & Gugushvili, D. (2025). Corruption and the social legitimacy of the welfare state: A comparative cross-national analysis. Global Social Policy, 25(2), 273-301. https://doi.org/10.1177/14680181241308409
Boly, A., Keita, K., Okara, A., & Okou, C. (2025). Effect of corruption on educational quantity and quality: Theory and evidence. Education Economics, 33(5), 722–746. https://doi.org/10.1080/09645292.2024.2401057
Bukari, C., Seth, S., & Yalonetzky, G. (2024). Corruption can cause healthcare deprivation: Evidence from 29 sub-Saharan African countries. World Development, 180, 106630. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2024.106630
Campos, C. (2019). Compliance en la contratación pública: mapa de riesgos corrupción y claves para su gestión. Gabilex. Revista del Gabinete Jurídico de Castilla-La Mancha, (1), 101–116. https://vlex.es/vid/compliance-contratacion-publica-mapa-773727765
Chainey, S. P., Croci, G., & Rodriguez Forero, L. J. (2021). The influence of government effectiveness and corruption on the high levels of homicide in Latin America. Social Sciences, 10(5), 172. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci10050172
Chaykina, M., Gómez Balcácer, L., Pontarollo, N., & Segovia Sarmiento, J. K. (2026). Institutional quality and life satisfaction in Latin America: Insights from a within-between approach. Development Studies Research, 13(1), 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1080/21665095.2026.2618678
Cisneros Arellano, J. L. (2018). La corrupción en la función pública: reflexiones en torno a la pertinencia de un enfoque ético desde la filosofía. Oxímora: Revista Internacional d’Ètica i Política, (13), 98-111. https://www.raco.cat/index.php/Oximora/article/view/339974
Ciziceno, M., & Travaglino, G. A. (2019). Perceived corruption and individuals' life satisfaction: The mediating role of institutional trust. Social Indicators Research, 141, 685–701. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-018-1850-2
Cooray, A., & Schneider, F. (2016). Does corruption promote emigration? An empirical examination. Journal of Population Economics, 29(1), 293–310. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00148-015-0563-y
Diarrassouba, A. S., Coulibaly, F. N., & Comóe, A. (2025). Governance and public health expenditure in Côte d'Ivoire: Examination of the dynamic relationship. Health Economics Review, 15, 68. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13561-025-00627-6
Dobson Phillips, R., Dávid-Barrett, E., & Barrington, R. (2025). Defining corruption in context. Perspectives on Politics, 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1017/S153759272400286X
Freundt, Ú., Tomás, A., & Gallardo, E. (2021). Comportamientos habituales relacionados con la corrupción en estudiantes universitarios limeños. Revista Ibérica de Sistemas e Tecnologias de Informação, (E41), 384–395. https://pesquisa.bvsalud.org/global-literature-on-novel-coronavirus-2019-ncov/resource/pt/covidwho-1102892
Gutiérrez, E. (2018). Corrupción pública: concepto y mediciones. Hacia el public compliance como herramienta de prevención de riesgos penales. Política Criminal, 13(25), 104–143. https://doi.org/10.4067/S0718-33992018000100104
Hajnal, Á., Bartha, A., & Martin, J. P. (2025). Varieties of corruption? A typology of country-level corruption patterns using fuzzy-set ideal type analysis. Political Studies Review, 24(2). https://doi.org/10.1177/14789299251335227
Hassanein, E. A., Samak, N., & Abdelaziz, S. (2024). The synergetic effect of economic complexity and governance on quality of life: Policy thresholds. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 11(1), 1185. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-024-03577-2
Henao Pérez, J. C., & Isaza Espinosa, C. (Eds.). (2018). Corrupción en Colombia: Corrupción, política y sociedad (Vol. 1). Universidad Externado de Colombia.
Huerta Vargas, P. S. (2025). La participación ciudadana y su impacto en la gestión pública en el Perú. Lex Localis: Journal of Local Self-Government, 23(S1), 295–317. https://doi.org/10.52152/800278
Jorge, J. E. (2020). Las causas de las protestas pacíficas en América Latina. Questión, 67, 1–55. https://sedici.unlp.edu.ar/handle/10915/112886
Kaufmann, D., Kraay, A., & Mastruzzi, M. (2010). The worldwide governance indicators: Methodology and analytical issues. World Bank Economic Review. https://documentos.bancomundial.org/es/publication/documents-reports/documentdetail/630421468336563314
Khan, A. R., Abedin, S., Rahman, M. M., & Khan, S. (2022). Effects of corruption and income inequality on the reported number of COVID-19 cases and deaths: Evidence from a time series cross-sectional data analysis. PLOS Global Public Health, 2(11), e0001157. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgph.0001157
Li, Q., & An, L. (2019). Corruption takes away happiness: Evidence from a cross-national study. Journal of Happiness Studies, 21, 485–504. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-019-00092-z
Li, Q., An, L., Xu, J., & Baliamoune-Lutz, M. (2018). Corruption costs lives: Evidence from a cross-country study. The European Journal of Health Economics, 19(1), 153–165. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10198-017-0872-z
Lisciandra, M., & Migliardo, C. (2017). An empirical study of the impact of corruption on environmental performance: Evidence from panel data. Environmental and Resource Economics, 68(2), 297–318. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10640-016-0019-1
Ma, J., Guo, B., & Yu, Y. (2022). Perception of official corruption, satisfaction with government performance, and subjective wellbeing—An empirical study from China. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 748704. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.748704
Madrid, C., & Palomino, W. (2019). Análisis de la tipificación de la corrupción privada en el Perú: ¿Una estrategia global contra la corrupción también debe involucrar a los particulares? ¿Y a las empresas? IUS ET VERITAS, (58), 32–54. https://doi.org/10.18800/iusetveritas.201901.002
Martínez Huamán, R. E. (2023). La corrupción en el Perú: situación, respuestas y resultados. Revista del Poder Judicial, 15(19). https://doi.org/10.35292/ropj.v15i19.719
Mungiu-Pippidi, A. (2020). The rise and fall of good-governance promotion. Journal of Democracy, 31(1), 88–102. https://doi.org/10.1353/jod.2020.0007
OECD, Inter-American Development Bank, & Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean. (2024). Estadísticas tributarias en América Latina y el Caribe 2024. OECD Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1787/ec57392c-es
Ortega, B., Casquero, A., & Sanjuán, J. (2016). Corruption and convergence in human development: Evidence from 69 countries during 1990–2012. Social Indicators Research, 127(2), 691–719. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-015-0968-8
Quispe-Mamani, E. (2021). Corrupción, conflictos y crisis de gobernabilidad democrática en Puno, Perú. Trabajo y Sociedad, 22(37), 419–437. https://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/articulo?codigo=8016341
Rothstein, B., & Eek, D. (2009). Political corruption and social trust. Rationality and Society, 21(1), 81–112. https://doi.org/10.1177/1043463108099349
Salinero, S., Alarcón, R., & Galleguillos, S. (2019). La corrupción en el mundo de los negocios: Una aproximación criminológica teórica y empírica para el caso chileno. Ius et Praxis, 25(3), 333–407. https://doi.org/10.4067/S0718-00122019000300333
Socoliuc, O.-R., Sîrghi, N., Jemna, D.-V., & David, M. (2022). Corruption and population health in the European Union countries—An institutionalist perspective. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(9), 5110. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19095110
Sulemana, I., Iddrisu, A. M., & Kyoore, J. E. (2017). A micro-level study of the relationship between experienced corruption and subjective wellbeing in Africa. Journal of Development Studies, 53(1), 138–155. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220388.2016.1187721
Tablante, C., & Morales, M. (2018). Impacto de la corrupción en los derechos humanos. Instituto de Estudios Constitucionales del Estado de Querétaro. https://www.corteidh.or.cr/tablas/r37786.pdf
Tavits, M. (2008). Representation, corruption, and subjective well-being. Comparative Political Studies, 41(12), 1607–1630. https://doi.org/10.1177/0010414007308537
Treisman, D. (2007). What have we learned about the causes of corruption from ten years of cross-national empirical research? Annual Review of Political Science, 10, 211–244. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.polisci.10.081205.095418
Wu, Y., & Zhu, J. (2016). When are people unhappy? Corruption experience, environment, and life satisfaction in mainland China. Journal of Happiness Studies, 17(3), 1125–1147. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-015-9635-7
Yan, B., & Wen, B. (2020). Income inequality, corruption and subjective well-being. Applied Economics, 52(12), 1311–1326. https://doi.org/10.1080/00036846.2019.1661953
Youssef, J., & Diab, S. (2021). Does quality of governance contribute to the heterogeneity in happiness levels across MENA countries? Journal of Business and Socio-Economic Development, 1(1), 87–101. https://doi.org/10.1108/JBSED-03-2021-0027
Zhang, Y. (2022). The relationship between corruption perception and depression: A multiple mediation model. Psychology Research and Behavior Management, 15, 1943–1954. https://doi.org/10.2147/PRBM.S370045
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
The journal is licensed under the Attribution License (CC BY), allowing the possibility of copying, distributing, displaying, and producing derivative works, as long as the author is acknowledged and cited.
