Trends in Corruptions Around the World

The problem of measuring changes in corruption internationally is significantly more daunting than that of estimating their levels. We compute trends in corruption for groups of geographically proximate countries, based on the geographic distribution of cases of cross-border bribes, and confirm that geographic variations in corruption are greater than time variations. They are then compared with changes in perceived corruption, as measured by Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index. We find that these alternative measures are not significantly correlated with each other. Using a panel data estimation technique, we attempt to explain trends in corruption. We only partially confirm results that are obtained when the purpose is to account for their levels in the context of a cross-sectional study. Overall, we conclude that the study of changes in levels of corruption is still in its infancy.