Corruption and Misery Index in Nigeria: Is There a Link?

The study examines the impact of the misery index on corruption in Nigeria over the period 1980–2018 using the autoregressive distributed lag model. The results confirm the long-run relationship between the misery index and corruption. Misery index increases corruption in both the short and long term, while economic growth reduces corruption in the long but not in the short-run period. The results show that the level of corruption is closely related to the country’s dire economic conditions. These findings suggest that inflation and unemployment rates need to be reduced in the country using the appropriate monetary and fiscal policies. Moreover, government efforts at increasing economic activity in the country will reduce the level of corruption, especially in the long run. JEL: C32, D73, E24, E31