Introduction: Scale and focus in the study of corruption

Heywood, Paul M.

Abstract

Corruption is one of the most high-profile issues in the contemporary world. According to the 2011 ‘World Speaks’ surveys, conducted by GlobeScan for the BBC World Service, corruption was the world’s most talked-about problem, ahead of extreme poverty, unem ployment, the cost of living and crime, violence and security. In low GDP counries, the focus on corruption was even higher, a finding rein forced in a December 2013 state ment by World Bank Group President, Jim Yong Kim, that ‘in the developing world, corruption is public enemy number one’. Understandably, then, the issue of corruption has been attracting significantly increased attention from politicians and policy-makers, international agencies, political activists and, not least, academics. This recent surge in interest dates back to the early 1990s, prompted in part by the end of the Cold War, but more especially by a growing realisation that corruption carries very significant costs. Indeed, according to some estim ates, corruption costs 5 percent of global GDP (US$2.6 trillion), with some US$1 trillion paid in bribes each year (CleanGovBiz 2014). It is hardly surprising that ever more has been published on corruption: Figure 0.1 overleaf charts the rise in the number of articles published each year between 1990 and 2010 on the topic of corruption, a cumulative total of more than 6, 000.

Citation

Heywood, P. M. (2014). Introduction: Scale and focus in the study of corruption. In P. M. Heywood (Ed.), Routledge handbook of political corruption (1-14). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315739175.intro

• Publication Date: Dec 17, 2014
• Deposit Date: Aug 16, 2021
• Publisher: Routledge
• Pages: 1-14
• Book Title: Routledge handbook of political corruption
• ISBN: 9780415617789
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315739175.intro
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/5692825
• Publisher URL: https://www.routledgehandbooks.com/doi/10.4324/9781315739175.intro