IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/soinre/v157y2021i2d10.1007_s11205-021-02657-z.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Measuring Corruption: A Critical Analysis of the Existing Datasets and Their Suitability for Diachronic Transnational Research

Author

Listed:
  • José-Miguel Bello y Villarino

    (University of Sydney
    Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation of Spain (on leave))

Abstract

Any researcher on corruption has faced at some point the dataset dilemma. How can one assess the incidence of a phenomenon on corruption levels if we cannot determine how much corruption is there in the first place? The problem compounds when the research has a transnational or comparative element. How can one assess how different corruption levels are in different jurisdictions if we cannot be sure if the measurements are comparable? It becomes critical when the research has a diachronic component, and tries to incorporate changes over time, as the stability and consistency of datasets become essential. This article reviews the literature on the topic from the last fifteen years and evaluates all the main options available today for researchers and policy designers in terms of validity and reliability, explaining first the particularities of these two concepts in the context of measurements of the prevalence of corruption. It pays particular attention to the limitations of the different datasets and determines the validity and reliability of the oft-used Corruption Perceptions Index post-2012 (CPI) and the Control of Corruption (CoC) indicator for the whole data series. This conclusion partially vindicates those researchers and policy designers who have used these datasets in the past, especially when compared to all the other options, while firmly warning users about the kind of conclusions that can be extracted from them.

Suggested Citation

  • José-Miguel Bello y Villarino, 2021. "Measuring Corruption: A Critical Analysis of the Existing Datasets and Their Suitability for Diachronic Transnational Research," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 157(2), pages 709-747, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:soinre:v:157:y:2021:i:2:d:10.1007_s11205-021-02657-z
    DOI: 10.1007/s11205-021-02657-z
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11205-021-02657-z
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11205-021-02657-z?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Razafindrakoto, Mireille & Roubaud, François, 2010. "Are International Databases on Corruption Reliable? A Comparison of Expert Opinion Surveys and Household Surveys in Sub-Saharan Africa," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 38(8), pages 1057-1069, August.
    2. Jacopo Cimadomo, 2016. "Real-Time Data And Fiscal Policy Analysis: A Survey Of The Literature," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(2), pages 302-326, April.
    3. Knack, Stephen, 2007. "Measuring Corruption: A Critique of Indicators in Eastern Europe and Central Asia," Journal of Public Policy, Cambridge University Press, vol. 27(3), pages 255-291, December.
    4. Reinikka, Ritva & Svensson, Jakob, 2003. "Survey techniques to measure and explain corruption," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3071, The World Bank.
    5. Goel, Rajeev K. & Nelson, Michael A., 2010. "Causes of corruption: History, geography and government," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 32(4), pages 433-447, July.
    6. Seligson, Mitchell A., 2006. "The Measurement and Impact of Corruption Victimization: Survey Evidence from Latin America," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 34(2), pages 381-404, February.
    7. Weber Abramo, Claudio, 2008. "How Much Do Perceptions of Corruption Really Tell Us?," Economics - The Open-Access, Open-Assessment E-Journal (2007-2020), Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel), vol. 2, pages 1-56.
    8. Raymond Fisman & Edward Miguel, 2007. "Corruption, Norms, and Legal Enforcement: Evidence from Diplomatic Parking Tickets," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 115(6), pages 1020-1048, December.
    9. Kanani K. M. Lee, 2009. "The enigma of D′′," Nature, Nature, vol. 462(7274), pages 731-732, December.
    10. Alexander Hamilton & Craig Hammer, 2018. "Can We Measure the Power of the Grabbing Hand?: A Comparative Analysis of Different Indicators of Corruption," Working Papers id:12388, eSocialSciences.
    11. Hunt, Jennifer, 2007. "How corruption hits people when they are down," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(2), pages 574-589, November.
    12. Ting Gong & Shiru Wang, 2013. "Indicators and Implications of Zero Tolerance of Corruption: The Case of Hong Kong," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 112(3), pages 569-586, July.
    13. Laarni Escresa & Lucio Picci, 2017. "A New Cross-National Measure of Corruption," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 31(1), pages 196-219.
    14. Jakob Svensson, 2005. "Eight Questions about Corruption," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 19(3), pages 19-42, Summer.
    15. Hamilton,Alexander James & Hammer,Craig, 2018. "Can we measure the power of the grabbing hand? : a comparative analysis of different indicators of corruption," Policy Research Working Paper Series 8299, The World Bank.
    16. Kristyna Chabova, 2017. "Measuring corruption in Europe: public opinion surveys and composite indices," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 51(4), pages 1877-1900, July.
    17. Staffan Andersson & Paul M. Heywood, 2009. "The Politics of Perception: Use and Abuse of Transparency International's Approach to Measuring Corruption," Political Studies, Political Studies Association, vol. 57(4), pages 746-767, December.
    18. Veronika Belousova & Rajeev Goel & Iikka Korhonen, 2016. "Corruption perceptions versus corruption incidence: Competition for rents across Russian regions," Journal of Economics and Finance, Springer;Academy of Economics and Finance, vol. 40(1), pages 172-187, January.
    19. Patria de Lancer Julnes & Manuel Villoria, 2014. "Understanding and addressing citizens’ perceptions of corruption: the case of Spain," International Review of Public Administration, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(1), pages 23-43, January.
    20. Kaufmann, Daniel & Kraay, Aart & Mastruzzi, Massimo, 2010. "The worldwide governance indicators : methodology and analytical issues," Policy Research Working Paper Series 5430, The World Bank.
    21. Alina Mungiu-Pippidi, 2017. "The time has come for evidence-based anticorruption," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 1(1), pages 1-3, January.
    22. Glaeser, Edward L. & Saks, Raven E., 2006. "Corruption in America," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(6-7), pages 1053-1072, August.
    23. Anja Hülsewig, 2009. "Measuring Corruption: A Comparison between the Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index and the World Bank's Worldwide Governance Indicators," ifo DICE Report, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 7(3), pages 42-52, October.
    24. Laura Langbein & Stephen Knack, 2010. "The Worldwide Governance Indicators: Six, One, or None?," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 46(2), pages 350-370.
    25. Francis Fukuyama, 2013. "What Is Governance?," Working Papers 314, Center for Global Development.
    26. Martin Schlossarek & Miroslav Syrovátka & Ondřej Vencálek, 2019. "The Importance of Variables in Composite Indices: A Contribution to the Methodology and Application to Development Indices," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 145(3), pages 1125-1160, October.
    27. Dilyan Donchev & Gergely Ujhelyi, 2014. "What Do Corruption Indices Measure?," Economics and Politics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(2), pages 309-331, July.
    28. Massimo Aria & Michelangelo Misuraca & Maria Spano, 2020. "Mapping the Evolution of Social Research and Data Science on 30 Years of Social Indicators Research," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 149(3), pages 803-831, June.
    29. Kristyna Chabova, 2017. "Erratum to: Measuring corruption in Europe: public opinion surveys and composite indices," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 51(4), pages 1901-1901, July.
    30. Nicholas Charron & Lewis Dijkstra & Victor Lapuente, 2014. "Regional Governance Matters: Quality of Government within European Union Member States," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 48(1), pages 68-90, January.
    31. Kaufmann, Daniel & Kraay, Aart & Zoido-Lobaton, Pablo, 1999. "Aggregating governance indicators," Policy Research Working Paper Series 2195, The World Bank.
    32. Mauro, Paolo, 1998. "Corruption and the composition of government expenditure," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(2), pages 263-279, June.
    33. Tianjiao Wang & Yelin Fu, 2020. "Constructing Composite Indicators with Individual Judgements and Best–Worst Method: An Illustration of Value Measure," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 149(1), pages 1-14, May.
    34. M A Thomas, 2010. "What Do the Worldwide Governance Indicators Measure?," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 22(1), pages 31-54, February.
    35. Alina Mungiu-Pippidi, 2015. "Corruption: Good governance powers innovation," Nature, Nature, vol. 518(7539), pages 295-297, February.
    36. World Bank, 2016. "Benchmarking Public Procurement 2017," World Bank Publications - Reports 32500, The World Bank Group.
    37. Transparency International TI, 2012. "Corruption Perceptions Index 2012," Working Papers id:5186, eSocialSciences.
    38. Heywood, Paul M. & Rose, Jonathan, 2014. "“Close but no Cigar†: the measurement of corruption," Journal of Public Policy, Cambridge University Press, vol. 34(3), pages 507-529, December.
    39. Stephen J Kobrin, 1976. "The Environmental Determinants of Foreign Direct Manufacturing Investment: An Ex Post Empirical Analysis," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 7(2), pages 29-42, June.
    40. Daniel Kaufmann & Aart Kraay & Massimo Mastruzzi, 2007. "Measuring Corruption : Myths and Realities," World Bank Publications - Reports 9576, The World Bank Group.
    41. Kenny, Charles, 2006. "Measuring and reducing the impact of corruption in infrastructure," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4099, The World Bank.
    42. repec:hhs:bofitp:2011_031 is not listed on IDEAS
    43. Staffan Andersson & Paul M. Heywood, 2009. "The Politics of Perception: Use and Abuse of Transparency International's Approach to Measuring Corruption," Political Studies, Political Studies Association, vol. 57, pages 746-767, December.
    44. Andrea Saltelli, 2007. "Composite Indicators between Analysis and Advocacy," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 81(1), pages 65-77, March.
    45. repec:dau:papers:123456789/4352 is not listed on IDEAS
    46. Anja Rohwer & Anja Hülsewig, 2009. "Measuring Corruption: A Comparison between the Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index and the World Bank's Worldwide Governance Indicators," ifo DICE Report, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 7(03), pages 42-52, October.
    47. Power, Michael, 1999. "The Audit Society: Rituals of Verification," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198296034.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Khawaja A. Mamun & Lorán Chollete, 2023. "Individual self‐control and collective outcomes: An examination of cigarette addiction and taxes," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 70(1), pages 1-18, February.
    2. Gustavo Gouvêa Maciel, 2021. "What We (Don't) Know so Far About Tolerance Towards Corruption in European Democracies: Measurement Approaches, Determinants, and Types," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 157(3), pages 1131-1153, October.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Eugen Dimant & Guglielmo Tosato, 2018. "Causes And Effects Of Corruption: What Has Past Decade'S Empirical Research Taught Us? A Survey," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(2), pages 335-356, April.
    2. Gutmann, Jerg & Padovano, Fabio & Voigt, Stefan, 2020. "Perception vs. experience: Explaining differences in corruption measures using microdata," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    3. Laarni Escresa & Lucio Picci, 2020. "The determinants of cross-border corruption," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 184(3), pages 351-378, September.
    4. Michael Jetter & Christopher F. Parmeter, 2016. "Uncovering the determinants of corruption," Working Papers 2016-02, University of Miami, Department of Economics.
    5. repec:pdn:wpaper:79 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Ivlevs Artjoms & Hinks Timothy, 2015. "Bribing Behaviour and Sample Selection: Evidence from Post-Socialist Countries and Western Europe," Journal of Economics and Statistics (Jahrbuecher fuer Nationaloekonomie und Statistik), De Gruyter, vol. 235(2), pages 139-167, April.
    7. Budsaratragoon, Pornanong & Jitmaneeroj, Boonlert, 2020. "A critique on the Corruption Perceptions Index: An interdisciplinary approach," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    8. Krisztina Kis-Katos & Günther G. Schulze, 2013. "Corruption in Southeast Asia: a survey of recent research," Asian-Pacific Economic Literature, The Crawford School, The Australian National University, vol. 27(1), pages 79-109, May.
    9. Jetter, Michael & Parmeter, Christopher F., 2018. "Sorting through global corruption determinants: Institutions and education matter – Not culture," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 279-294.
    10. repec:pdn:wpaper:70 is not listed on IDEAS
    11. Hu, Juncheng, 2021. "Do facilitation payments affect earnings management? Evidence from China," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    12. Akbari, Mahsa & Bahrami-Rad, Duman & Kimbrough, Erik O., 2019. "Kinship, fractionalization and corruption," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 166(C), pages 493-528.
    13. Michael Jetter & Christopher F. Parmeter, 2020. "Reply to “A Replication of “Sorting through Global Corruption Determinants: Institutions and Education Matter— Not Culture†(World Development, 2018)â€," Public Finance Review, , vol. 48(4), pages 568-576, July.
    14. Razafindrakoto, Mireille & Roubaud, François, 2010. "Are International Databases on Corruption Reliable? A Comparison of Expert Opinion Surveys and Household Surveys in Sub-Saharan Africa," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 38(8), pages 1057-1069, August.
    15. Roberto Dell’Anno, 2020. "Corruption around the world: an analysis by partial least squares—structural equation modeling," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 184(3), pages 327-350, September.
    16. Qu, Guangjun & Slagter, Bob & Sylwester, Kevin & Doiron, Kyle, 2019. "Explaining the standard errors of corruption perception indices," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 47(4), pages 907-920.
    17. Carmelo León & Jorge Araña & Javier León, 2013. "Correcting for Scale Perception Bias in Measuring Corruption: an Application to Chile and Spain," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 114(3), pages 977-995, December.
    18. Zakharov, Nikita, 2019. "Does corruption hinder investment? Evidence from Russian regions," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 39-61.
    19. Andreas Kyriacou & Leonel Muinelo-Gallo & Oriol Roca-Sagalés, 2015. "Construction corrupts: empirical evidence from a panel of 42 countries," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 165(1), pages 123-145, October.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:soinre:v:157:y:2021:i:2:d:10.1007_s11205-021-02657-z. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.