Mahdi Omidi,

Dalian University of Technology,
Dalian, China,
E-mail: momidi_pl@yahoo.com

Combined Effect of Economic Variables on Fraud, A Survey of Developing Countries

Qingfei Min,

Dalian University of Technology,
Dalian, China,
E-mail: minqf@dlut.edu.cn

Mohammad Omidi,

Iran University of Science and Technology,
Tehran, Iran,
E-mail: insp.omidi@gmail.com

Abstract. Recently, many researchers have examined the factors affecting fraud and introduced the elements required for fraud to exist. In this paper, we define these variables in two broad groups of economic and non-economic variables. We examine the combined effect of economic variables on fraud. We used 7 variables namely; fraud, the size of government, democracy, per capita income, inflation, the total value added of the industrial sector divided by GDP, and the total value added of the service sector divided by GDP. The predictive method used in this study is panel data. Our research findings show that democracy and GDP tend to have a reverse effect on fraud, whereas the size of the government and inflation are positively associated with fraud. Furthermore, we describe the association between industrial sector and fraud and also the service sector and fraud.

Received: December, 2016

1st Revision: March, 2017

Accepted: June, 2017

DOI: 10.14254/2071- 789X.2017/10-2/20

JEL Classification: D70, D73, K40

Keywords: fraud, panel data, GDP, industrial sector, service sector, economic variables.