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This paper aims to examine the effects of corruption control on domestic investment in the BRICS and CIVETS of emerging economies. This paper’s primary goal is to investigate how corruption has impacted domestic private investment in BRICS and CIVETS, empirically evaluate that impact and offer appropriate policy recommendations.

This paper uses secondary panel data from the World Bank spanning the period 2000–2020. The data covered the BRICS and CIVETS countries between 2000 and 2020. This study used gross domestic product (GDP) per capita growth, broad money as a percentage of GDP, real interest rate and corruption index as independent variables and domestic investment as a percentage of GDP as a dependent variable.

The significant results are presented using the panel, autoregressive distributed lag pooled mean group estimator. Growth in the per-capita GDP, money supply and the suppression of corruption all have long-term, positive and significant benefits on domestic investment. Comparatively, the real interest rate has a significant negative influence on investment, indicating that it may be necessary and beneficial to adopt anti-corruption measures to promote domestic investment. However, the country-specific analysis reveals that the long-term effects of corruption on investment tend to vary across countries, indicating that each country needs to research the issue of corruption independently. Finally, ensuring optimal levels of money supply and interest rates leaded by further control of corruption is necessary for strengthening the investment environment.

This study suggests several practical implications. For example, legislators and policymakers should pay more attention to anti-corruption policies. Central banks should put more effort into controlling the interest rate.

This study aims to explore the relationships between GDP growth, education spending, central bank transparency (CBT) and accountability on the corruption perception index within the G20 countries, emphasizing their combined effects and interdependencies.

Using the central bank transparency index (CBTI) introduced by Dinçer et al. (2019), an analysis spanning from 2002 to 2019 was conducted on selected G20 countries, further refining the results by excluding EU members. Data sources included World Bank statistics and CBTI data. The research deployed the heteroskedastic and contemporaneously correlated panel-corrected standard error model to detail the effects of the aforementioned factors on the corruption index.

The study revealed no statistical evidence that economic growth had an effect on reducing corruption. Education spending emerged as a potent tool in curbing corruption, especially in EU nations. A strong correlation was identified between CBT and reduced corruption, consistent across G20 countries, regardless of EU affiliation. The insights emphasize the importance of enhancing education spending and CBT in combating corruption. For effective anti-corruption measures, countries are encouraged to invest more in education, amplify internal checks and adopt transparent central bank policies. Further research could delve into cultural, historical and political variables to understand corruption dynamics comprehensively.

This study aspires to address the existing gaps in the literature and provide a substantial contribution to the ongoing discourse and efforts to understand and mitigate corruption within the G20 countries and globally.

This paper investigates the impact of microfinance on poverty gap which is the shortfall in income or consumption expenditures below $1.90, $3.20 and $5.50 per day. The paper’s primary goal is to investigate how microloans have impacted the severity of poverty and influenced the cost of poverty eradication in Latin America, empirically evaluate these effects and offer appropriate policy recommendations.

This paper used panel data for 13 Latin American countries from world bank spanning the period 2001–2019 and Fully Modified Ordinary Least Squares model for heterogeneous cointegrated panels. This study used Gross Loan Portfolio per active borrowers, gross domestic product per capita, Gini index, Inflation and Unemployment rate as independent variables and poverty gaps as dependent variables.

Poverty gaps narrow as the loan per borrower increases, and the degree of effect differs with the poverty line, with the magnitude increasing as the poverty line falls, underscoring microloans as an effective tool in closing poverty gaps and lowering the cost of poverty eradication. Growth of GDP per capita is helpful reducing the poverty gap, especially for the less poor of the poor. Inflation and unemployment have no to little impact on the severe poverty gaps, but they start to matter when the poverty line is $5.5 per day. Finally, income distribution inequality widens the poverty gap regardless of the poverty line used.

This study suggests several implications. For example, Latin American nations need to embrace tangible policies that encourage economic growth while reducing inequalities in income distribution to effectively eradicate poverty. More supportive environment is necessary to increase the effectiveness of microfinance operations, particularly for the poorest populations. Microfinance institutions need to set less stringent conditions for loan accessibility and repayment schedules that are commensurate with different levels of poverty. Finally, strengthening microfinance as a strategic policy to gradually close poverty gaps and reduce the cost of poverty eradication.