Date of Award

2018

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Social Sciences

First Advisor

Khemraj, Tarron

Area of Concentration

Economics and Political Science

Abstract

This study asks the question of whether Sub-Saharan African regime’s level of trade with three exterior trading partners (the People’s Republic of China, the European Union and the United States) influences levels of corruption and polity in the local regimes. A panel regression with 31 countries over a 12-year period was run in order to determine the relationship, which found that trade is positively correlated with reduced corruption, although to varying degrees. The following paper comprises a review of the literature on corruption, trade, foreign direct investment, and how these factors interact with polity, which is a synthetic variable substituting for democratic norms and values. Furthermore, the paper attempts to ask how China, and Chinese firms interact within, or as an exception to, normal bilateral trading partners in the region, and answer the question of what is so unique about China’s political and economic involvement in Sub-Saharan Africa? The circumstances pertaining to the region’s underlying issues are discussed within a qualitative analytical framework for the region, and the paper examines two unique case studies pertinent to the research question. Following the qualitative section, the paper then lays out of the mathematical framework and creation of the panel regression, in order to attempt to empirically measure the theorized relationships. The regression’s results and a discussion of the relationships are then highlighted. Essentially the paper asks the question: Based on the analyses of the history and interactions observed in the qualitative review, does the data display a correlation between bilateral trade with specific foreign blocs and the dependent countries’ levels of corruption and level of polity, and if so, to what degree and with what theoretical linkage or mechanism.

Download

Share

COinS