ABSTRACT
Chapter 5 deals with the issue of corruption. The corruption associated with the transition process was adopted as an important research topic very early on, which has included mainly macro and micro studies. Even after all this time, the debate over the issue does not seem to have been settled at all; rather, it seems to be expanding. By taking this research trend into consideration, this chapter carries out a systematic review of 558 previous studies to verify a total of 14 hypotheses that deal with the following three main aspects of the corruption issue: (1) factors causing corruption, (2) factors influenced by corruption, and (3) culture and values. Our findings suggest not only that researchers mostly agree on the causes of corruption and the various factors that may be affected by the corruption issue but also that the overwhelming majority of researchers acknowledge the negative impact of corrupt practices from both social and economic perspectives, although there are a few exceptional cases where researchers could disagree. Nevertheless, almost all researchers are totally opposed to the so-called “greasing-the-wheels hypothesis” that emphasizes the positive aspects of corruption based on the understanding that, during the confusion of the transition period, corruption was one survival tactic that actually contributed to economic growth, to some extent. As such, this chapter describes the details regarding the causes and effects of corruption and elucidates the researchers’ understanding of these matters by summarizing and reviewing previous studies.
