Sub-National Evaluation of the Corruption Variability

Abstract

Quantification of the corruption rate in smaller regional areas is still a considerably unexplored territory worldwide. Also the definition of the potential impacts of corruption or their precise quantification is an area that was investigated only in general level of state. Detailed analysis of corruption still lacks regional dimension. Subnational distinction of a territory in terms of the corruption rate could provide a completely new extension of theories of reasons and consequences of regional disparities. There are several reasons why to focus on this issue. Perhaps the strongest reason is that if corruption is one of the variables that have an effect of reducing economic performance, the elimination of corruption in certain regions may be the key to the elimination of regional economic disparities and thus increase the economic performance of the state. The main goal of the paper is formulated in this connection. A newly proposed Regional corruption index was used to verify corruption variability within the NUTS II regions in European countries. The high level of variability in corruption was confirmed for NUTS II regions, particularly in Italy, but also in other countries. Because of this variability, it could be in many cases very misleading to evaluate the country as a whole from the viewpoint of the level of corruption.