Corruption, defined as one’s “dishonest, fraudulent, or even criminal act […] using entrusted authority or power to make a personal gain or other unethical or illegal benefits” (Cornell Law School 2022, 1), is a pervasive issue worldwide. In this bibliography entry, I will be examining multiple academic sources–including journal articles and university press published books–that thoroughly explain the intricacy of corruption as well as their relations to political economy. Nowadays, corruption has been a continuous political economy issue, imposing detrimental effects on social equity, economic development, and governance. When corruption takes place, it inevitably will result in issues such as weakened governance, political instability, economic distortion and economic inequality. 

Going into the depth of the first journal, Corruption, anti-corruption, and inter-county income disparity in China mainly addresses the correlation between corruption and the income gap. According to statistics from “county-level data and Ordinary Least Square (OLS)” (Wu and Zhu 2011, 1), Wu and Zhu discovered that “counties with higher degree of anti-corruption tend to have higher income measured by county-level per capita GDP” (ibid.). The article addresses how the presence of corruption accounts for “inter-county income disparity in China” (ibid.). Therefore, it is extremely special to me. I grew up regularly exposed to news about corruption by incompetent government officials, yet not knowing their correlation to income gap. The process of discovering this source was simple. Upon accessing the UChicago library, I entered the Political Science section, I selected the Worldwide Political Science Abstracts under Proquest. Going through a variety of peer reviewed journal articles, I found this writing exceptionally intriguing while relating to my paper. 

Besides the article, Economic Gangsters: Corruption, Violence and the Poverty of Nations stood out to me. In this book, the vivid descriptions–from Raymond Fisman and Edward Miguel–of a corrupted society “take readers into the secretive, chaotic, and brutal worlds inhabited by these lawless and violent thugs” (Fisman and Miguel 2008, 1). Using lighthearted and humorous languages, the story depicts the international system dominated by black marketeers… as well as stock market trends “with unseemly connections to Indonesia's former dictator” (ibid.). It even draws a relationship between rainfall and the “witch killings in Tanzania” (ibid.), two seemingly unrelated events correlated through corruption. As for the historical aspects, the story addresses issues regarding the 2008 financial crisis, proposing solutions to real world corruption challenges: aid programs, violence, and poverty. Nevertheless, in contrast of the first approach, I directly went into Jstor without narrowing down the topics in the guide. Subsequently I searched for books published by the Princeton University Press and then narrowed down to ones discussing corruption. Finally, I settled with this interesting but informative writing. 

“The Economics of Fraud and Corruption Risk Management” is another journal article that fascinates me, primarily due to its focus on the societal stability influenced by corruption’s correlation to money laundering. Unlike the vast majority of other writings that address generic, and widespread encounters, money laundering provides different perspectives into corruption’s impact in the society’s social and economic structure. Moreover, besides addressing the “rise to prominence of corruption and money laundering,” (Ionescu 2010, 1) welfare losses, and transaction costs in corruption agreements brings out the often neglected aspects. Despite finding this journal article on Jstor as well, my approach differed from the previous research. I directly typed in ‘Corruption Economics’ and found the topic, which is creative, meaningful, and pertains to my topic. 

Normal Organizational Wrongdoing: A Critical Analysis of Theories of Misconduct in and by Organizations, written by Donald Palmer and colleagues in 2012, puts forth innovative notions regarding corruption. The most prominent feature that grabs my attention is the discussion of two perspectives: “wrongdoing as an abnormal phenomenon, and the other characterizes it as a normal one” ( Palmer et al. 2012, 1). Furthermore, the book introduces the competing and overlapping explanations on an individual-level as causes of wrongdoings. The process of finding this source was most complicated. After I entered the political science section from the guide, I clicked on Oxford Bibliographies Online. Going through multiple bibliographies discussing corruption, I encountered one with a detailed, and well-written introduction. Looking through the citations I discovered Donald Palmer’s writing. 

Bibliography

“Corruption.” Wex. LII / Legal Information Institute, June 2022. law.cornell.edu/wex/corruption. 

Yiping, Wu, and Jiangnan Zhu. 2011. "Corruption, Anti-Corruption, and Inter-County Income Disparity in China." Social Science Journal Vol.48, No.3: 435. 

Fisman, Raymond, and Edward Miguel. 2008. Economic Gangsters: Corruption, Violence, and the Poverty of Nations. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.  

Ionescu, Luminita. 2010. “The Economics of Fraud and Corruption Risk Management.” Geopolitics, History, and International Relations Vol.2, No. 2: 256–61. 

Palmer, Donald. 2012. Normal Organizational Wrongdoing: A Critical Analysis of Theories of Misconduct in and by Organizations. Oxford: Oxford University Press.