Can We Measure the Power of the Grabbing Hand? A Comparative Analysis of Different Indicators of Corruption

Hamilton, Alexander ; Hammer, Craig

World Bank, Washington, DC

关键词: GOVERNANCE;    INDICATORS;    ANTICORRUPTION;    CORRUPTION;    PUBLIC SECTOR PERFORMANCE;   

DOI  :  10.1596/1813-9450-8299
RP-ID  :  WPS8299

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

Sustainable Development Goal 16 isexplicitly committed to measuring aspects of corruption overtime, and the identification of robust indicators to do sois an important endeavor. This paper critically reviews thestrengths and weaknesses of various objective and subjectiveindicators of corruption, using the standard criteria ofvalidity and reliability to identify indicators most salientto measuring Sustainable Development Goal 16. Consistentwith the large literature in the field, the paper finds thatthe aggregate survey-based indicators of corruption,especially the Corruption Perceptions Index and the WorldBank's Control of Corruption indicator, despite someimportant reservations and limitations, are the most validmeasures of the magnitude of overall corruption in manycountry contexts. However, in every case, the initialresults using one indicator should be cross checked with theuse of the other indicator, as there are some minordifferences between how the two indicators are constructed,and in practice it is difficult to establish a priori whichindicator is marginally more efficient. Furthermore,whenever possible, subjective indicators should be crosschecked with objective indicators, even when the latter maybe of a more narrow scope and time limited availability.