Criminological theories and corruption. An explanatory study at the international level

Abstract

Although numerous studies have been carried out at a national and international level, there are very few that detail whether and to what extent criminological theories can yield insights useful for understanding the etiology of corruption. The article first identifies the criminological theories that seemingly possess better explanatory power in regard to corruption in the public sector, distinguishing between theories pertaining to a situational/mechanistic perspective and those related to a more historical/evolutionary one. The article then tests these criminological theories in 51 states of the world. It does so by tranforming these theories into measurable hypotheses with which to test a model where, in each country concerned, the dependent variable is represented by the percentage of firms expected to make informal payments to public officials to “get things done”, while the independent variables are represented by: the perception of the legal system’s certainty and impartiality and willingness to comply with the laws; the time that the entrepreneur spends with public officials on matters regarding the enterprise; government payments in exchange for goods and services; the percentage of firms that do not report all sales for tax purposes; and the percentage of firms with female participation in ownership. The results of the multiple linear regression between the dependent variable ‘corruption’ and the independent variables considered show that the model proposed is statistically significant (R square 0.246) and that the independent variable that has explanatory power is the one concerning tax evasion. This was identified as an expression of the differential association theory translated into the hypothesis that an increase in illegal conduct other than corruption by entrepreneurs leads to an increase in corruption itself.