Skip to main content

Globalization and Corruption

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
Global Encyclopedia of Public Administration, Public Policy, and Governance

Synonyms

Breach of trust; Bribery; Crime; Crookedness; Exploitation; Extortion; Fraud; Graft; Malfeasance; Misrepresentation; Nepotism; Profiteering; Racket; Rent seeking; Skimming; Squeeze; Venality

Definition

Corruption is most often defined as “the use of public office for the pursue of private gain” (Galtung et al. 2013). This reflects a contractual relationship between the state and its bureaucrats and more broadly between the state and its citizens (Ledeneva 2009; Hira 2016). However, corruption increasingly refers to any breach of trust, malfeasance of intended duty, or failure to deliver in both practice and spirit for any agreement when the purpose is the gain of just one of the parties. Thus, corruption can occur at all levels of governance and include public, private, or nonprofit actors. Corruption is sometimes divided between petty, everyday corruption, and corruption scandals that occur on a large scale. Corruption can involve a wide variety of activities, from bribery...

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • (Baron de) Montesquieu, Charles de Secondat (1748) The spirit of laws. Crowder, Wark, and Payne, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Acemoglu D, Johnson S, Robinson JA (2001) The colonial origins of comparative development: an empirical investigation. Am Econ Rev 91(Dec):1369–1401

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Akerlof GA (1970) The market for “lemons”: quality uncertainty and the market mechanism. Q J Econ 84(3):488–500

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bayless M (2012) Sin and filth in medieval culture: the devil in the latrine. Routledge, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Bellver A, Kaufmann D (2005) Transparenting transparency: initial empirics and policy applications. World Bank Policy Research Working Paper

    Google Scholar 

  • Blundo G (2007) Hidden acts, open talks. How anthropology can “Observe” and describe corruption. In: Nuijten M (ed) Corruption and the secret of law. Ashgate, Aldershot, pp 27–53

    Google Scholar 

  • Boissevain J (1989) Patronage in sicily. In: Johnston M, Heidenheimer AJ (eds) Political corruption: a handbook. Transaction Publishers, New Brunswick, pp 307–325

    Google Scholar 

  • Brunetti A, Weder B (2003) A free press is bad news for corruotion. Public Economy 87(7–8):1801–24

    Google Scholar 

  • Campbell JK (1989) Village friendship and patronage. In: Johnston M, Heidenheimer AJ (eds) Political corruption: a handbook. Transaction Publisher, New Burnswick, pp 327–337

    Google Scholar 

  • Coase RH (1960) The problem of social cost. J Law Econ 3:1–44

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gallup (2012) Voice of the people end of year survey. From http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/icpsrweb/ICPSR/studies/33504

  • Galtung F, Shacklock A et al (2013) Measuring corruption. Ashgate Publishing Ltd., Aldershot

    Google Scholar 

  • Hofstede G, Hofstede GJ (2005) Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind. 2nd Edition, McGraw-Hill USA

    Google Scholar 

  • Hardoon D, Heinrich F (2013) Global corruption barometer 2013. Berlin: Transparency International

    Google Scholar 

  • Hira A (2015) Three perspectives on human irrationality. The Book Guild, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Hira A (2016) Broken windows: why culture matters in corruption reform. J Dev Soc 32(1):1–16

    Google Scholar 

  • Hira A, Rea MB (2015) Shirt off your back? Prospects for ethical clothing manufacture in the post-ran plaza era. PalgraveMacmillan, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Hira A, Shiao K (2016) Understanding the deep roots of success in effective civil services. J Dev Stud 32(1):17–43

    Google Scholar 

  • Hollyer, J., B. Rosendorff, et al. (2012) Measuring transparency. Social Science Research Network. 2

    Google Scholar 

  • Jackall R (2010) Moral mazes: the world of corporate managers. Oxford University Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Jancsics D (2014) Interdisciplinary perspectives on corruption. Sociol Compass 8(4):358–372

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • James R, Hollyer B, Peter Rosendorff, James RV (2014) Measuring transparency. Polit Anal 1–22

    Google Scholar 

  • Jaskiewicz PU (2013) Is nepotism good or bad? Types of nepotism and implications for knowledge management. Fam Bus Rev 26:121–139

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Knack S (2006) Measuring corruption in Eastern Europe and Central Asia: a critique of the cross-country indicators. World Bank, Washington, DC

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Kravtsova, M., A. Y. Oshchepkov, et al. (2014) Corruption and social values: do postmaterialists justify bribery? Higher School of Economics Research Paper No. WP BRP 34

    Google Scholar 

  • Krueger AO (1974) The political economy of the rent-seeking society. Am Econ Rev 64(June):291–303

    Google Scholar 

  • Kunicová J, Rose-Ackerman S (2005) Electoral rules and constitutional structures as constraints on corruption. Br J Polit Sci 35:573–606

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lambsdorff JG (2002) Corruption and rent seeking. Public Choice 113:97–125

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lambsdorff JG, Taube M, Schramm M (2005) The new institutional economics of corruption. Routledge, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Ledeneva A (2009) Corruption in postcommunist societies in Europe: a re-examination. Persp Eur Pol Soc 10(1):69–86

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Licht AN, Goldschmidt C, Schwartz SH (2007) Culture rules: the foundations of the rule of law and other forms of governance. J Comp Econ 35(4):659–688

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lindstedt C, Naurin D (2010) Transparency is not enough: making transparency effective in reducing corruption. Int Polit Sci Rev 31(3):301–322

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lomnitz LA (2004) Informal exchange networks in formal systems: a theoretical model. Am Anthropol 10:2–26

    Google Scholar 

  • Lomnitz LA, Sheinbaum D (2004) Trust, social networks and the informal economy: a comparative analysis. Rev Sociol 10:2–26

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Miller GJ (2005) The political evolution of principal-agent models. Ann Rev Polit Sci 8:203–225

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Miller S, Roberts P, Spence E (2005) Corruption and anti-corruption: the applied philosophical approach. Pearson, Upper Saddle River

    Google Scholar 

  • Møller J, Skaaning S-E (2014) The rule of law. Palgrave MacMillan, Basingstoke

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Murillo M (2012) Towards measuring government transparency through measuring data openness

    Google Scholar 

  • Murillo MJ (2014) Evaluating the role of online data availability: the case of economic and institutional transparency in sixteen Latin American nations. Int Polit Sci Rev 0192512114541163

    Google Scholar 

  • Neild R (2002) Public corruption: the dark side of social evolution. Anthem Press, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Oldenburg P (1987) Middlemen in third-world corruption: implications of an Indian case. World Polit 39:508–535

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Piotrowski S (2010) Measuring municipal transparency. 14th IRSPM conference. Bern, Switzerland

    Google Scholar 

  • Raadschelders Jos CN, Mark RR (1996) The evolution of civil service systems. In: Hans AGM, Bekke James LP, Theo AJ, Toonen (eds) Civil service systems ion comparative perspective. Indiana U. Press, Bloomington, pp 67–99

    Google Scholar 

  • Riley P, Roy RK (2016) Corruption and anticorruption: the case of India. J Dev Soc 32(1):73–99

    Google Scholar 

  • Shkabatur J (2013) Transparency with(out) accountability: open government in the United States. Yale Law Policy Rev 31(1)

    Google Scholar 

  • Spence M, Zeckhauser R (1971) Insurance, information, and individual action. Am Econ Rev 61(2):380–387

    Google Scholar 

  • TI (2015) Corruption perceptions index 2015: full source description. Transparency International, Berlin

    Google Scholar 

  • Torsello D (2014) Corruption as social exchange: the view from anthropology. University of Bergamo, Bergamo

    Google Scholar 

  • Treisman D (2007) What have we learned about the causes of corruption from ten years of cross-national empirical research? Ann Rev Polit Sci 10:211–244

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Uhlenbruck K, Rodriguez P, Doh J, Eden L (2006) The impact of corruption on entry strategy: evidence from telecommunication projects in emerging economies. Organ Sci 17(3):402–414

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Von Alemann U (2004) The unknown depths of political theory: the case for a multidimensional concept of corruption. Crime Law Soc Chang 42(1):25–34

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • WB (2015) Enterprise surveys indicator description. The World Bank, Washington, DC

    Google Scholar 

  • Weber, Max (1978) (orig. 1922) Economy and society. Berkeley: University of California Press

    Google Scholar 

  • World Bank (2000) Anticorruption in transition: a contribution to the policy debate. Washington DC: World Bank.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zimring FE, Johnson DT (2005) On the comparative study of corruption. Br J Criminol 45(6):793–809

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Anil Hira .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2016 Springer International Publishing AG

About this entry

Cite this entry

Hira, A., Murillo, M., Kim, A. (2016). Globalization and Corruption. In: Farazmand, A. (eds) Global Encyclopedia of Public Administration, Public Policy, and Governance. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31816-5_3152-1

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31816-5_3152-1

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-31816-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-31816-5

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Economics and FinanceReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences

Publish with us

Policies and ethics