Measuring corruption in developed countries
| Author: | Mgr. Bajzíková Anna |
|---|---|
| Year: | 2012 - summer |
| Leaders: | PhDr. Jaromír Baxa Ph.D. |
| Consultants: | |
| Work type: | Doctoral |
| Language: | English |
| Pages: | 96 |
| Awards and prizes: | |
| Link: | |
| Abstract: | The complex issue of corruption has attracted much attention over the last 20 years. The problem was analyzed mostly in the context of developing and transition countries, though not only the recent financial crisis showed the severity of corruption also in the world’s most developed countries. This thesis analyzes twelve currently available corruption assessments for a cross section of 39 developed countries in the period 2007-2010. The thesis categorizes these assessments into three basic generations and characterizes the weaknesses and limitations of particular methods. The analysis is based on determination of relationship between individual corruption measures and recognizes specific aspects of corruption actually measured by particular indices. With the exception of strictly opinion poll-based corruption indices, the first and the second generation of corruption indices correlate well for a set of developed countries. This indicates that the sector specific indices, e.g. expenditure corruption assessment, are in analyzed countries closely related to the overall political corruption levels. An applied hierarchical cluster analysis gives better picture of otherwise inconsistent developed countries corruption rankings and divides countries into ten homogeneous groups. However, the analysis failed to rebut the criticism that there is no clear order of countries that are considered the least corrupt. Based on our analysis, 13 out of a total 39 countries do not display any fundamental differences in the extent of overall political corruption. The analysis of all available corruption measures also aims to find the most suitable corruption assessment for further study of impact of corruption on economic indicators. Based on empirical analysis of available corruption measures and conclusions from literature, the political risk assessments provided by commercial business providers are sufficient for these purposes and enable us to derive a unique assessment of political corruption risk. This assessment derived from indices of corruption, law and order, and bureaucratic quality can serve as a proxy for the level of political corruption in developed countries. |
| Downloadable: | RT Bajzikova |
