The impact of government corruption and municipal management on social inequality reduction: Evidence from a Peruvian municipality

García Vela T.M. · Multidisciplinary Science Journal (2026) · DOI: 10.31893/multiscience.2027003

Resumen

This study examines the relationship between governmental corruption, municipal management, and the reduction of social gaps in a provincial municipality in Peru during 2025. In many developing countries, institutional weaknesses and corruption risks affect the effectiveness of local governance and limit equitable access to essential public services. Within this context, municipal governments play a key role in implementing public policies related to education, health, sanitation, and infrastructure. The research adopted a quantitative, applied approach with a non-experimental, cross-sectional correlational design. Data were collected through structured surveys administered to 115 municipal officials and employees involved in administrative processes and the implementation of social programs. Three questionnaires were designed to measure perceptions of governmental corruption, municipal management, and social gap reduction. The instruments were validated through expert judgment (Aiken's V = 1.00) and showed high internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha between 0.896 and 0.920). Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and ordinal logistic regression with a Logit link function in IBM SPSS Statistics version 26. The regression model showed an adequate overall statistical fit (p < 0.05); however, the coefficients associated with governmental corruption and municipal management did not reach conventional levels of statistical significance (p > 0.05). These findings suggest that the reduction of social gaps may depend on broader institutional, economic, and policy-related factors beyond those included in the model. Strengthening transparency, institutional capacity, and accountability mechanisms may contribute to improving local governance and promoting territorial equity. Copyright (c) 2026 The Authors This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.

Instituciones: Universidad César Vallejo