IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/zbw/ifweej/6986.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

How Much Do Perceptions of Corruption Really Tell Us?

Author

Listed:
  • Weber Abramo, Claudio

Abstract

Regressions and tests performed on data from Transparency International Global Corruption Barometer (GCB) 2004 survey show that personal or household experience of bribery is not a good predictor of perceptions held about corruption among the general population. In contrast, perceptions about the effects of corruption correlate consistently among themselves. However, no consistent relationship between opinions about general effects and the assessments of the extent with which corruption affects the institutions where presumably corruption is materialized is found. Countries are sharply divided between those above and below the US$ 10,000 GDP per capita line in the relationships between variables concerning corruption. Among richer countries, opinions about institutions explain very well opinions concerning certain effects of corruption, while among poorer countries the explanatory power of institutions for the effects of corruption falls. Furthermore, tests for dependence applied between the variables in the sets of respondents for each of 60 countries also show that, for most of them, it is likely that experience does not explain perceptions. On the other hand, opinions tend to closely follow the trend of other opinions. Additionally, it is found that in the GCB opinions about general effects of corruption are strongly correlated with opinions about other issues. The correlation is so strong as to justify the hypothesis that it would suffice to measure the average opinion of the general public about human rights, violence etc. to accurately infer what would be the average opinion about least petty and grand corruption. The findings reported here challenge the value of perceptions of corruption as indications of the actual incidence of the phenomenon.

Suggested Citation

  • 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.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:ifweej:6986
    DOI: 10.5018/economics-ejournal.ja.2008-3
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.5018/economics-ejournal.ja.2008-3
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/18016/1/economics_2008-3.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.5018/economics-ejournal.ja.2008-3?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
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Naci Mocan, 2008. "What Determines Corruption? International Evidence From Microdata," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 46(4), pages 493-510, October.
    2. Kaufmann, Daniel & Kraay, Aart & Mastruzzi, Massimo, 2007. "Governance Matters VI: Aggregate and Individual Governance Indicators, 1996-2006," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4280, The World Bank.
    3. Treisman, Daniel, 2000. "The causes of corruption: a cross-national study," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 76(3), pages 399-457, June.
    4. Inna Cabelkova, 2001. "Perceptions of Corruption in Ukraine: Are They Correct?," CERGE-EI Working Papers wp176, The Center for Economic Research and Graduate Education - Economics Institute, Prague.
    5. Daniel Kaufmann & Aart Kraay & Massimo Mastruzzi, 2003. "Governance Matters III: Governance Indicators for 1996-2002," Macroeconomics 0308006, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Dreher, Axel & Kotsogiannis, Christos & McCorriston, Steve, 2007. "Corruption around the world: Evidence from a structural model," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 35(3), pages 443-466, September.
    7. Charles P. Oman & Christiane Arndt, 2006. "Governance Indicators for Development," OECD Development Centre Policy Insights 33, OECD Publishing.
    8. Tina Søreide, 2006. "Is it wrong to rank? A critical assessment of corruption indices," CMI Working Papers WP 2006: 1, CMI (Chr. Michelsen Institute), Bergen, Norway.
    9. Kaufmann, Daniel & Kraay, Aart & Mastruzzi, Massimo, 2006. "Governance matters V: aggregate and individual governance indicators for 1996 - 2005," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4012, The World Bank.
    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. Heyman Fredrik & Tingvall Patrik Gustavsson, 2015. "The Dynamics of Offshoring and Institutions," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 15(4), pages 1975-2016, October.
    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. Arruñada, Benito, 2020. "The impact of experience on how we perceive the rule of law," Journal of Institutional Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 16(3), pages 251-269, June.
    4. Thomas Herzfeld & Iryna Kulyk & Axel Wolz, 2018. "Is Agribusiness Different? Firm-Level Evidence of Perceived Corruption in Post-Soviet Countries," Eastern European Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 56(6), pages 504-521, November.
    5. Benno Torgler & Marco Piatti, 2013. "Extraordinary Wealth, Globalization, And Corruption," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 59(2), pages 341-359, June.
    6. Nicholas Charron & Lewis Dijkstra & Victor Lapuente, 2015. "Mapping the Regional Divide in Europe: A Measure for Assessing Quality of Government in 206 European Regions," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 122(2), pages 315-346, June.
    7. Yan Leung Cheung & P. Raghavendra Rau & Aris Stouraitis, 2012. "How much do firms pay as bribes and what benefits do they get? Evidence from corruption cases worldwide," NBER Working Papers 17981, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    8. Tingvall, Patrik, 2011. "Dynamic Effects of Corruption on Offshoring," Ratio Working Papers 182, The Ratio Institute.
    9. Singh, Sunny Kumar & Bhattacharya, Kaushik, 2017. "Does easy availability of cash affect corruption? Evidence from a panel of countries," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 41(2), pages 236-247.
    10. Gamberger, Dragan & Smuc, Tomislav, 2013. "Good governance problems and recent financial crises in some EU countries," Economics - The Open-Access, Open-Assessment E-Journal (2007-2020), Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel), vol. 7, pages 1-20.
    11. Thomas Roca, 2011. "Measuring corruption: perception surveys or victimization surveys?," Working Papers hal-00625179, HAL.
    12. Zakharov, Nikita, 2019. "Does corruption hinder investment? Evidence from Russian regions," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 39-61.
    13. Rajul Awasthi & Nihal Bayraktar, 2015. "Can tax simplification help lower tax corruption?," Eurasian Economic Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 5(2), pages 297-330, December.
    14. Thomas Roca, 2011. "Measuring corruption: perception surveys or victimization surveys? Towards a better comprehension of populations’ perception mechanisms: press freedom, confidence and gossip," Documents de travail 167, Groupe d'Economie du Développement de l'Université Montesquieu Bordeaux IV.
    15. Jamie Bologna, 2014. "Is the Internet an effective mechanism for reducing corruption experience? Evidence from a cross-section of countries," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 21(10), pages 687-691, July.
    16. Singh, Sunny & Bhattacharya, Kaushik, 2015. "Does easy availability of cash effect corruption? Evidence from panel of countries," MPRA Paper 65934, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    17. 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.
    18. Germana Corrado & Luisa Corrado & Giuseppe De Michele & Francesco Salustri, 2017. "Are Perceptions of Corruption Matching Reality? Theory and Evidence from Microdata," CEIS Research Paper 420, Tor Vergata University, CEIS, revised 14 Dec 2017.
    19. Yan-Leung Cheung & P. Raghavendra Rau & Aris Stouraitis, 2021. "What Determines the Return to Bribery? Evidence from Corruption Cases Worldwide," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 67(10), pages 6235-6265, 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. 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. Benno Torgler & Marco Piatti, 2013. "Extraordinary Wealth, Globalization, And Corruption," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 59(2), pages 341-359, June.
    3. Robert Neumann & Peter Graeff, 2010. "A Multitrait-Multimethod approach to pinpoint the validity of aggregated governance indicators," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 44(5), pages 849-864, August.
    4. Yan Leung Cheung & P. Raghavendra Rau & Aris Stouraitis, 2012. "How much do firms pay as bribes and what benefits do they get? Evidence from corruption cases worldwide," NBER Working Papers 17981, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Lewis, Maureen & Pettersson, Gunilla, 2009. "Governance in health care delivery : raising performance," Policy Research Working Paper Series 5074, The World Bank.
    6. Gbewopo Attila, 2009. "Individual attitudes toward anti-corruption policies in Sub-Saharan Africa: Microeconometric evidence," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 29(3), pages 1933-1939.
    7. Joseph G. ATTILA, 2008. "How do African populations perceive corruption: microeconomic evidence from Afrobarometer data in twelve countries," Working Papers 200811, CERDI.
    8. Ebeke, Christian & Omgba, Luc Désiré & Laajaj, Rachid, 2015. "Oil, governance and the (mis)allocation of talent in developing countries," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 126-141.
    9. Delgadillo Chavarria, Carlos Bruno, 2019. "El Efecto de la Mediterraneidad sobre el Flujo Comercial Internacional: Evidencia Empírica Internacional y para América del Sur (1990-2016) [The Effect of Landlocked Country Status on International," MPRA Paper 96294, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 10 Sep 2019.
    10. Omar Al Farooque & Ali Hamid & Lan Sun, 2022. "National Governance Index, Corruption Index and Growth Rate—International Evidence from Sub-Saharan and MENA Countries," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-19, June.
    11. Jaćimović, Danijela & Karadžić, Vesna & Bošković, Tatjana, 2008. "Quality of governance as measured by World Bank indicators for the region of south-east Europe," SEER Journal for Labour and Social Affairs in Eastern Europe, Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG, vol. 11(4), pages 485-502.
    12. M. Emranul Haque & Kyriakos C. Neanidis, 2009. "Financial Dollarization: Short-Run Determinants in Transition Economies," Centre for Growth and Business Cycle Research Discussion Paper Series 114, Economics, The University of Manchester.
    13. Benno Torgler & Neven T. Valev, 2006. "Women and Illegal Activities: Gender Differences and Women?s Willingness to Comply over Time," CREMA Working Paper Series 2006-15, Center for Research in Economics, Management and the Arts (CREMA).
    14. Delgadillo Chavarria, Carlos Bruno, 2019. "El Efecto de la Mediterraneidad sobre el Flujo Comercial Internacional: Evidencia Empírica Internacional y para América del Sur (1990-2016) [The Effect of Landlocked Country Status on International," MPRA Paper 96093, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 10 Sep 2019.
    15. Pieroni, Luca & d'Agostino, Giorgio & Bartolucci, Francesco, 2013. "Identifying corruption through latent class models: evidence from transition economies," MPRA Paper 43981, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    16. Berg, Sanford V. & Jiang, Liangliang & Lin, Chen, 2012. "Regulation and corporate corruption: New evidence from the telecom sector," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(1), pages 22-43.
    17. Mehmet Pinar, 2015. "Measuring world governance: revisiting the institutions hypothesis," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 48(2), pages 747-778, March.
    18. Germana Corrado & Luisa Corrado & Giuseppe De Michele & Francesco Salustri, 2017. "Are Perceptions of Corruption Matching Reality? Theory and Evidence from Microdata," CEIS Research Paper 420, Tor Vergata University, CEIS, revised 14 Dec 2017.
    19. Kenny, Charles & Soreide, Tina, 2008. "Grand Corruption in Utilities," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4805, The World Bank.
    20. 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.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Corruption; perceptions; corruption indicators;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D73 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Bureaucracy; Administrative Processes in Public Organizations; Corruption
    • H11 - Public Economics - - Structure and Scope of Government - - - Structure and Scope of Government
    • K42 - Law and Economics - - Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behavior - - - Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:zbw:ifweej:6986. 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: ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/iwkiede.html .

    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.