PERTANIKA JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES

There is a mixed opinion in the economics literature on whether corruption promotes economic development or not. The complexity of corruption in terms of its definition and measurement has also deterred many studies to be carried out in terms of its effect on economic development. In order to have a good clarification, the study investigates the extent at which corruption affects development in Nigeria between 1982 and 2015 using cointegration and ECM methods of analysis to determine the long and short run effects of the variables. The findings from the study suggest that there is a long-run relationship among the variables (economic development (ED) and corruption) while the ECM explains that the previous year disequilibrium is adjusted back in this current year at 88.67% speed of adjustment. Overall, it is concluded that corruption has significant negative effect on economic development in Nigeria thereby slows down development in the country. The study therefore recommended among others, the need to strengthen anti-corruption agencies and also give them autonomy so as to enable them discharge their duties effectively.