Measuring Corruption in Eastern Europe and Central Asia : A Critique of the Cross-Country Indicators

This paper assesses corruption levels and trends among countries in the transition countries of Eastern Europe and Central Asia (ECA) based on data from several sources that are both widely used and cover most or all countries in the region. Data from firm surveys tend to show improvement in most ty...

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Main Author:	Knack, Stephen
Format:	Policy Research Working Paper
Language:	English
Published:	World Bank, Washington, DC 2012
Subjects:	ACCOUNTABILITY ADMINISTRATIVE CORRUPTION AGGREGATE INDEXES AGGREGATION METHODOLOGY AID EFFECTIVENESS BRIBES BUSINESS CLIMATE BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT BUSINESS ENVIRONMENTAL RISK INTELLIGENCE CIVIL SOCIETY CONFLICTS OF INTEREST CORRELATIONS CORRUPT COUNTRIES CORRUPTION CONTROL CORRUPTION DATA CORRUPTION INDICATOR CORRUPTION ISSUES CORRUPTION LEVELS CORRUPTION PERCEPTIONS CORRUPTION PERCEPTIONS INDEX CORRUPTION PROBLEMS CORRUPTION TRENDS COUNTRY COVERAGE CRIME CRIME VICTIMIZATION ECONOMIC CONDITIONS ECONOMIC GROWTH ENTERPRISE SURVEYS FOREIGN INVESTORS GOVERNANCE INDICATORS GOVERNANCE ISSUES GOVERNMENT EFFECTIVENESS GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS HOUSEHOLD SURVEYS HUMAN RIGHTS INCOME INVESTMENT CLIMATE LAWS LICENSING MEASUREMENT ERROR MEASURING CORRUPTION MEDIA METHODOLOGICAL ISSUES METHODOLOGIES PARLIAMENT PERCEPTIONS INDEX POLITICAL STABILITY POLITICAL SYSTEM PRINCIPAL COMPONENTS ANALYSIS PUBLIC FUNDS PUBLIC OFFICIALS PUBLIC PROCUREMENT REGULATORY QUALITY RESEARCH WORKING PAPERS RESEARCHERS RULE OF LAW STATISTICAL ANALYSIS STATISTICAL METHODS TAX COLLECTION TECHNIQUES TRANSPARENCY VALIDITY WEIGHTING
Online Access:	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2006/07/6920907/measuring-corruption-eastern-europe-central-asia-critique-cross-country-indicators http://hdl.handle.net/10986/8377

id	okr-10986-8377
recordtype	oai_dc
spelling	okr-10986-83772021-04-23T14:02:41Z Measuring Corruption in Eastern Europe and Central Asia : A Critique of the Cross-Country Indicators Knack, Stephen ACCOUNTABILITY ADMINISTRATIVE CORRUPTION AGGREGATE INDEXES AGGREGATION METHODOLOGY AID EFFECTIVENESS BRIBES BUSINESS CLIMATE BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT BUSINESS ENVIRONMENTAL RISK INTELLIGENCE CIVIL SOCIETY CONFLICTS OF INTEREST CORRELATIONS CORRUPT COUNTRIES CORRUPTION CONTROL CORRUPTION DATA CORRUPTION INDICATOR CORRUPTION ISSUES CORRUPTION LEVELS CORRUPTION PERCEPTIONS CORRUPTION PERCEPTIONS INDEX CORRUPTION PROBLEMS CORRUPTION TRENDS COUNTRY COVERAGE CRIME CRIME VICTIMIZATION ECONOMIC CONDITIONS ECONOMIC GROWTH ENTERPRISE SURVEYS FOREIGN INVESTORS GOVERNANCE INDICATORS GOVERNANCE ISSUES GOVERNMENT EFFECTIVENESS GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS HOUSEHOLD SURVEYS HUMAN RIGHTS INCOME INVESTMENT CLIMATE LAWS LICENSING MEASUREMENT ERROR MEASURING CORRUPTION MEDIA METHODOLOGICAL ISSUES METHODOLOGIES PARLIAMENT PERCEPTIONS INDEX POLITICAL STABILITY POLITICAL SYSTEM PRINCIPAL COMPONENTS ANALYSIS PUBLIC FUNDS PUBLIC OFFICIALS PUBLIC PROCUREMENT REGULATORY QUALITY RESEARCH WORKING PAPERS RESEARCHERS RULE OF LAW STATISTICAL ANALYSIS STATISTICAL METHODS TAX COLLECTION TECHNIQUES TRANSPARENCY VALIDITY WEIGHTING This paper assesses corruption levels and trends among countries in the transition countries of Eastern Europe and Central Asia (ECA) based on data from several sources that are both widely used and cover most or all countries in the region. Data from firm surveys tend to show improvement in most types of administrative corruption, but little change in "state capture" in the region. Broader, subjective corruption indicators tend to show somewhat greater improvement in ECA than in non-ECA countries on average. A "primer on corruption indicators" discusses definitional and methodological differences among data sources that may account in large part for the apparently conflicting messages they often provide. This discussion concludes that depending on one's purpose, it may be more appropriate to use data from a single source rather than a composite index because of the loss of conceptual precision in aggregation. A second conclusion is that the gains in statistical precision from aggregating sources of corruption data likely are far more modest than often claimed because of interdependence among data sources. The range of detailed corruption measures available in firm surveys are exploited to show that broad, perceptions-based corruption assessments appear to measure primarily administrative corruption, despite their stated criteria placing great weight on "state capture." Finally, the paper emphasizes the need for scaling up data initiatives to fill significant gaps between our conceptual definitions of corruption and the operational definition embodied in the existing measures. 2012-06-18T21:58:55Z 2012-06-18T21:58:55Z 2006-07 http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2006/07/6920907/measuring-corruption-eastern-europe-central-asia-critique-cross-country-indicators http://hdl.handle.net/10986/8377 English Policy Research Working Paper; No. 3968 CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo/ World Bank World Bank, Washington, DC Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper Publications & Research Europe and Central Asia
repository_type	Digital Repository
institution_category	Foreign Institution
institution	Digital Repositories
building	World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection	World Bank
language	English
topic	ACCOUNTABILITY ADMINISTRATIVE CORRUPTION AGGREGATE INDEXES AGGREGATION METHODOLOGY AID EFFECTIVENESS BRIBES BUSINESS CLIMATE BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT BUSINESS ENVIRONMENTAL RISK INTELLIGENCE CIVIL SOCIETY CONFLICTS OF INTEREST CORRELATIONS CORRUPT COUNTRIES CORRUPTION CONTROL CORRUPTION DATA CORRUPTION INDICATOR CORRUPTION ISSUES CORRUPTION LEVELS CORRUPTION PERCEPTIONS CORRUPTION PERCEPTIONS INDEX CORRUPTION PROBLEMS CORRUPTION TRENDS COUNTRY COVERAGE CRIME CRIME VICTIMIZATION ECONOMIC CONDITIONS ECONOMIC GROWTH ENTERPRISE SURVEYS FOREIGN INVESTORS GOVERNANCE INDICATORS GOVERNANCE ISSUES GOVERNMENT EFFECTIVENESS GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS HOUSEHOLD SURVEYS HUMAN RIGHTS INCOME INVESTMENT CLIMATE LAWS LICENSING MEASUREMENT ERROR MEASURING CORRUPTION MEDIA METHODOLOGICAL ISSUES METHODOLOGIES PARLIAMENT PERCEPTIONS INDEX POLITICAL STABILITY POLITICAL SYSTEM PRINCIPAL COMPONENTS ANALYSIS PUBLIC FUNDS PUBLIC OFFICIALS PUBLIC PROCUREMENT REGULATORY QUALITY RESEARCH WORKING PAPERS RESEARCHERS RULE OF LAW STATISTICAL ANALYSIS STATISTICAL METHODS TAX COLLECTION TECHNIQUES TRANSPARENCY VALIDITY WEIGHTING
spellingShingle	ACCOUNTABILITY ADMINISTRATIVE CORRUPTION AGGREGATE INDEXES AGGREGATION METHODOLOGY AID EFFECTIVENESS BRIBES BUSINESS CLIMATE BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT BUSINESS ENVIRONMENTAL RISK INTELLIGENCE CIVIL SOCIETY CONFLICTS OF INTEREST CORRELATIONS CORRUPT COUNTRIES CORRUPTION CONTROL CORRUPTION DATA CORRUPTION INDICATOR CORRUPTION ISSUES CORRUPTION LEVELS CORRUPTION PERCEPTIONS CORRUPTION PERCEPTIONS INDEX CORRUPTION PROBLEMS CORRUPTION TRENDS COUNTRY COVERAGE CRIME CRIME VICTIMIZATION ECONOMIC CONDITIONS ECONOMIC GROWTH ENTERPRISE SURVEYS FOREIGN INVESTORS GOVERNANCE INDICATORS GOVERNANCE ISSUES GOVERNMENT EFFECTIVENESS GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS HOUSEHOLD SURVEYS HUMAN RIGHTS INCOME INVESTMENT CLIMATE LAWS LICENSING MEASUREMENT ERROR MEASURING CORRUPTION MEDIA METHODOLOGICAL ISSUES METHODOLOGIES PARLIAMENT PERCEPTIONS INDEX POLITICAL STABILITY POLITICAL SYSTEM PRINCIPAL COMPONENTS ANALYSIS PUBLIC FUNDS PUBLIC OFFICIALS PUBLIC PROCUREMENT REGULATORY QUALITY RESEARCH WORKING PAPERS RESEARCHERS RULE OF LAW STATISTICAL ANALYSIS STATISTICAL METHODS TAX COLLECTION TECHNIQUES TRANSPARENCY VALIDITY WEIGHTING Knack, Stephen Measuring Corruption in Eastern Europe and Central Asia : A Critique of the Cross-Country Indicators
geographic_facet	Europe and Central Asia
relation	Policy Research Working Paper; No. 3968
description	This paper assesses corruption levels and trends among countries in the transition countries of Eastern Europe and Central Asia (ECA) based on data from several sources that are both widely used and cover most or all countries in the region. Data from firm surveys tend to show improvement in most types of administrative corruption, but little change in "state capture" in the region. Broader, subjective corruption indicators tend to show somewhat greater improvement in ECA than in non-ECA countries on average. A "primer on corruption indicators" discusses definitional and methodological differences among data sources that may account in large part for the apparently conflicting messages they often provide. This discussion concludes that depending on one's purpose, it may be more appropriate to use data from a single source rather than a composite index because of the loss of conceptual precision in aggregation. A second conclusion is that the gains in statistical precision from aggregating sources of corruption data likely are far more modest than often claimed because of interdependence among data sources. The range of detailed corruption measures available in firm surveys are exploited to show that broad, perceptions-based corruption assessments appear to measure primarily administrative corruption, despite their stated criteria placing great weight on "state capture." Finally, the paper emphasizes the need for scaling up data initiatives to fill significant gaps between our conceptual definitions of corruption and the operational definition embodied in the existing measures.
format	Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper
author	Knack, Stephen
author_facet	Knack, Stephen
author_sort	Knack, Stephen
title	Measuring Corruption in Eastern Europe and Central Asia : A Critique of the Cross-Country Indicators
title_short	Measuring Corruption in Eastern Europe and Central Asia : A Critique of the Cross-Country Indicators
title_full	Measuring Corruption in Eastern Europe and Central Asia : A Critique of the Cross-Country Indicators
title_fullStr	Measuring Corruption in Eastern Europe and Central Asia : A Critique of the Cross-Country Indicators
title_full_unstemmed	Measuring Corruption in Eastern Europe and Central Asia : A Critique of the Cross-Country Indicators
title_sort	measuring corruption in eastern europe and central asia : a critique of the cross-country indicators
publisher	World Bank, Washington, DC
publishDate	2012
url	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2006/07/6920907/measuring-corruption-eastern-europe-central-asia-critique-cross-country-indicators http://hdl.handle.net/10986/8377
_version_	1764406363398602752

Measuring Corruption in Eastern Europe and Central Asia : A Critique of the Cross-Country Indicators

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