Does oil corrupt?: evidence from a natural experiment in West Africa

This paper is an attempt to deepen knowledge on the relationships between natural resources and corruption. Specifically, the paper attempts to understand whether there is a causal relationship from natural resource abundance to corruption. The paper analyses the case of São Tomé and Príncipe. The paper looks at the effects of the announcements of a significant oil discovery in the period 1997-1999 and whether that translates into increased corruption efforts.The study conducted household surveys on perceived corruption in the public services/sector. The paper finds that an increase in perceived corruption has occurred in São Tomé and Príncipe in recent years, ranging from 21% to 38% of the subjective scale. Specifically, clear changes in several sectors where public rents are perceived to increase corruption. The most robust sectors include: vote buying, education, and state jobs.