27.01.2022 New Working Paper: The Effect of Corruption on Internal Conflict in Iran Using Newspaper Coverage

In a new study which is available as CESifo Working Paper No. 9536 , Mohammad Reza Farzanegan & Reza Zamani examine the effect of a corruption reflection index on internal conflict in Iran using a novel measure of corruption based on newspaper coverage. In this study, authors introduce a new index of corruption based on reports from one of Iran’s main news outlets, Eṭṭelāʿāt (lit. information), which is the oldest functioning Persian daily newspaper in the world.

Abstract

We study the effect of a corruption reflection index on internal conflict in Iran using a novel measure of corruption based on newspaper coverage. We use the Vector Autoregression (VAR) model and its applied tools of impulse response and variance decomposition analyses to track the response of protests to shocks in the level of corruption. Using annual data from 1962 to 2019, we find a positive and significant response of protests to a positive shock in the news-based corruption reflection index. We also show that the main channels where higher corruption may lead to higher internal protests are through economic growth and military spending.

The full (preprint) study of Farzanegan and Zamani (2022) is available at: https://www.cesifo.org/node/67733

Citation: Farzanegan, M.R., Zamani, R., 2022. The Effect of Corruption on Internal Conflict in Iran Using Newspaper Coverage. CESifo Working Paper No. 9536, Munich.