This paper aims to investigate the role of corruption and income inequality in three-dimensional sustainable development in the post-Soviet countries.
The methodology is based on dynamic panel regression with the fixed effects approach.
The authors' findings depict that increasing corruption and income inequality undermine sustainable development. Specifically, increasing corruption and income inequality negatively affect sustainable development. Moreover, unemployment and trade liberalization negatively impact sustainable development, whereas foreign direct investments (FDIs) positively affect sustainable development.
Policy implications enclose galvanizing strong institutions and redistributive policy mechanisms that the bottom income groups enjoy in promoting sustainable development to keep away the distressful phase of corruption and income inequality.
This is the first paper on corruption, income inequality and sustainable development in the post-Soviet countries employing a sustainable development index (SDI), which is calculated by considering three factors including economic, social and environmental development.
The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-01-2023-0065
