How do South Koreans respond to government corruption? Evidence from experiments

How do South Korean citizens respond to government corruption? Various fields of studies conclude that South Korean citizens are unlikely to challenge government corruption, much less join others to demand government accountability for corruption. Yet, empirical evidence such as the protest rallies following the Sewol tragedy suggests otherwise. We investigate how South Koreans respond through experiments. The results show participants: (a) choose to challenge the government; (b) and join others to demand government accountability for corruption; (c) when they lose or experience no loss from corrupt actions; and (d) when they expect others to demand accountability. This paper makes several contributions: first, contrary to expectations, the findings highlight that participants demand government accountability for corruption. Second, the results also show that even those who do not lose from corruption will demand government accountability, when they expect others to make that demand. This identifies conditions when South Korean participants will demand or join others to demand government accountability of corruption. Third, the findings provide an important complement - citizens' concerted effort or censure - to drive government's efforts against corruption.