Private-Sector Corruption: Measurement and Cultural Origins

Jerg Gutmann and Viola Lucas ()
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Viola Lucas: GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies

Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, 2018, vol. 138, issue 2, No 16, 747-770

Abstract: Abstract Research on corruption has made substantial progress in recent years. Yet, most studies still treat corruption as a homogenous phenomenon. This article argues that private-sector corruption can be distinguished conceptually from public-sector corruption, which has been in the spotlight of empirical research. We introduce the first indicator of private-sector corruption covering a large cross-section of countries. This new indicator is used to extend a recent empirical study on the cultural determinants of public-sector corruption (Kong and Volkema in Soc Indic Res 127(1):139–152, 2016). We find that self-serving leadership in high-income countries is associated with more corruption in both the public and the private sector. Furthermore, individualistic leadership in low-income countries is linked to reduced private-sector corruption. Next, we test a number of alternative cultural explanations for differences in private-sector corruption across countries. Overall, our results suggest that specific forms of corporate leadership culture matter for private-sector corruption, but also religious identity and trust play an important role.

Keywords: Corruption indicators; Determinants of corruption; Private-sector corruption; Culture; Individualism; Trust (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C82 D73 K4 M14 Z1 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (14)

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DOI: 10.1007/s11205-017-1684-3

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