Another study in the same year, by Shang-Jin Wei, argues that a worsening of Singapore s perfect score of 10 to that of Mexico s 3.25 would be the same as raising the tax rate by 21 percentage points. Another effect of corruption is that it tilts public spending towards projects that make it easier to collect on bribes, at the expense of priority programmes. And typically, spending on defence is preferred over education. Crucially, corruption can lower the quality of public goods and services and even threaten safety. The collapse of buildings in Seoul and during the earthquake in Turkey was partially blamed on substandard contracts and shabby construction.
Corruption also distorts the redistri-butive role of the state.
It fuels the informal sector and acts as an incentive to evade taxes. It also totally distorts programmes to combat poverty, undermining international aid and reconstruction programmes. The corruption that accompanied agrarian reform in Morocco in the early 1970s may have contributed to political stability, but it undermined economic growth. On the other hand, the same political stability may have boosted growth over the longer term. But it should not be concluded that all corruption damages growth.