The Impact of Poverty on Corruption in the MENA Countries (The Application of Bayesian Hierarchical Model)

Poverty is one of the most important economic issues in developing countries such as MENA. Poverty causes many social problems such as drug trafficking, theft, prostitution and corruption. On the other hand, corruption is a major problem in developing countries. Corruption destroys resources as well as impedes the optimal allocation of resources. Statistics show that Iran is at a disadvantage both in terms of poverty and corruption. Therefore, considering the importance of fighting poverty and corruption, the main purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of poverty on corruption. The Human Development Index was used to measure poverty and the World Bank Corruption Control Index was used to measure corruption. The Bayesian Hierarchical method was used to estimate regression. The results showed that the variables of economic growth, and human development index have a negative impact and the variables of trade freedom index, foreign direct investment, and the share of government spending in GDP have a positive effect on corruption.