Special Issue—Traditional Beliefs and Corruption Tolerance: Evidence From East Asia

ABSTRACT

Traditional beliefs can shape how people think about politics and governance, yet micro‐level evidence on their link to corruption‐related norms remains limited. This article examines whether engagement in traditional practices is associated with greater tolerance for governance‐undermining behavior in East Asia. Using data from the 2018 East Asian Social Survey (EASS), which includes responses from nationally representative samples in four countries (China, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan), we test whether possessing a charm or amulet kept close for good luck predicts greater acceptance of nepotistic hiring. While the results for the pooled sample show that respondents who possess such objects are significantly more likely to justify nepotism, even after controlling for demographic, cultural, and socio‐economic factors, country‐by‐country analyses reveal some cross‐national heterogeneity.