Audit Risk and Wealth Accumulation: When Politicians Give up on Corruption

Experts have shown that anti-corruption actions can improve the quality of public policies. The issue is that we are not certain if this occurs because politicians reduce their involvement in misconduct. Through an experiment informing mayors of their high audit risk, this paper compares incumbents' personal wealth, as corruption is often defined as the misuse of public power for private gain. Results indicate that politicians aware of higher audit risk ended their term with 46 per cent lower private wealth. Simulations confirm statistical significance even if the treatment group hides part of its assets. The evidence strengthens the argument that audit risk awareness demotivates politicians from corruption.