ABSTRACT
Corruption, like many concepts in the social sciences, does not have a single agreed upon definition. For the most part, corruption is associated with efforts to secure wealth or accumulate power through illegal means, private gain at public expense, or misuse of public power for private benefits (Lipset & Lenz, 2000, p. 112). Ofoeze (2004, p. 20) refers to corruption as “any action or inaction of any person or group (public and private) deliberately perpetuated to secure advantages for oneself, a relation, associate or group(s) in a manner that detracts from the accepted regulations, morals and/or ethical standard or code and hence constituting a travesty of justice, equity and fair play.” For further conceptual discussions of corruption see: Alam (1990); Goudie & Stasavage (1997); Johnston (1997); Klitgaard (1988); LaPalombara (1994); Nye (1967); Shleifer & Vishny (1993); and Spinellis (1996). As these definitions suggest, corruption typically involves – explicitly or implicitly – public sector bureaucrats and politicians. In this chapter, we adopt the widely used definition of corruption from Girling (1997) – the abuse of public trust for private gain, as we seek to show that investment in human development can directly reduce the level of corruption in a country.
