The Impact of Corruption on Economic Growth and Innovation in an Economy in Developed European Countries

Theoretical background: The article explores the relationship between corruption and innovation in an economy and between corruption and economic growth. The multi-faceted and complex nature of corruption means that the impact of corruption on innovation and economic growth is unidirectional. There are arguments in the literature for both positive and negative effects of corruption on macroeconomic fiures. Most empirical research confirms the linear negative impact of corruption on economic growth. These results are the opposite of theoretical arguments that there may be both positive and negative consequences of corruption. Purpose of the article: The research aim is to analyse the theoretical aspects of the impact of corruption on selected macroeconomic variables. This goal was achieved by analysing the most signifiant arguments describing the relationships between chosen variables. Based on the literature analysis, research hypotheses were developed, and they were verifid in an empirical study. The results were analysed in the discussion section. Research methods: The study is based on a set of data on economically developed countries in Europe from 1996 to 2017. The empirical study was conducted using basic statistical measures – descriptive statistics and correlation coefficient, whereas econometric models were based on the GMM system (Generalized Method of Moments). Main findings: The results of this research show that the relationships between corruption and the measure of innovation, and corruption and economic growth are not linear. They take the form of a parabola. This means that the influence of corruption on innovation and economic growth is not the same for all levels of the corruption indicator. The relationship between corruption and economic growth is specific enough to show that a low level of corruption is economically justified from the point of view of empirical research. This is possible because corruption solves other economic problems, such as bureaucracy, which limits development. Corruption will support economic growth if the state does not work properly.