This archive report was first published on 30 June 2019.
According to a groundbreaking study published in the journal Science on June 20, 2019, Kenya's civic honesty levels are among the lowest in the world. The study, titled Civic Honesty Around the Globe, was conducted by researchers Alain Cohn, Michel André Maréchal, Christian Lukas Zünd, and David Tannenbaum in 355 cities across 40 countries.
Using 'lost' wallets as a tool to gauge civic honesty, the researchers found that in nearly all countries, citizens were more likely to return wallets that contained more money. This contradicts the predictions of professional economists and armatures, who expected that empty wallets or those with insignificant amounts of money would be more likely to be returned.
The study involved turning in over 17,000 lost wallets with varying amounts of money at public and private institutions, and measuring whether recipients contacted the owner to return the wallets. The researchers found that in Kenya, only 15% of wallets without money were returned, while 20% of those with cash were sent back to the owner.
Kenya's low civic honesty levels were rivaled only by China, where the chances of recovering a lost wallet with or without money are the lowest in the world. In contrast, Denmark had the highest level of integrity, with 80% of wallets with money being returned compared to 70% of those without cash.
The study's findings have significant implications for social capital and economic development, highlighting the importance of civic honesty in building trust and promoting economic growth.
