Measuring corruption: Perspectives, critiques and limits

Heywood, Paul M.

Abstract

How do we measure some thing that is, by its very nature, largely hidden? This is the conundrum that faces all who have attempted to develop a means of measuring corruption. Given the seemingly intractable nature of this problem, the obvious question is why we should want to measure a phenomenon that is not only covert, but notoriously difficult even to define. There are, infact, several reasons for doing so: first, it is important to assess the scale of the issue, in terms of its extent, location and trends, so that we know what we are dealing with. Second, we want to see whether there are any clear patterns in order, third, to help identify explanatory variables that will aid our understanding of why and where corruption develops. In short, measuring corruption will help us see better where we need to take action, as well as helping us decide both what that action should be and assessing whether it has worked. As we shall see, however, attempts at measuring corruption can lead to unintended consequences.

Citation

Heywood, P. M. (2014). Measuring corruption: Perspectives, critiques and limits. In P. M. Heywood (Ed.), Routledge handbook of political corruption (137-153). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315739175.ch10

• Publication Date: Dec 17, 2014
• Deposit Date: Aug 16, 2021
• Publisher: Routledge
• Pages: 137-153
• Book Title: Routledge handbook of political corruption
• Chapter Number: 10
• ISBN: 9780415617789
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315739175.ch10
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/5692829
• Publisher URL: https://www.routledgehandbooks.com/doi/10.4324/9781315739175.ch10