Tim Harford writes about a study by Fisman and Miguel of corruption.
The two economists looked at the behaviour of diplomats in New York City (in the area around the UN building in midtown Manhattan, where many consulates are located).
Remember, diplomats then had immunity so can happily ignore parking fines. So whether any were left unpaid can be reasonably hypothesised to be down to purely to cultural attitudes to rules.
By looking at parking violations between 1997 and 2002, Fisman and Miguel found a strong and significant correlation between unpaid tickets and corruption perception.
The worst offenders – Kuwait, Egypt, Chad, Sudan and Bulgaria. “One Kuwaiti diplomat managed to accumulate two unpaid parking fines every working day for a year.“
The best – Denmark, Norway and Sweden and, to everyone’s collective sigh of relief, the British – who did not have a single unpaid parking ticket over the six year period.
“The same may not be true for all British politicians.A certain Boris Johnson once worked as GQ magazine’s motoring correspondent. His editor noted that Johnson had cost GQ “£5,000 in parking tickets”, but he wouldn’t have him any other way.“
