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State Power and Private Profit: the political economy of corruption in Southeast Asia
Author(s) -
Lim Linda Y.C.,
Stern Aaron
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
asian‐pacific economic literature
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.232
H-Index - 21
eISSN - 1467-8411
pISSN - 0818-9935
DOI - 10.1111/1467-8411.00120
Subject(s) - democratization , language change , centralisation , decentralization , liberalization , politics , state (computer science) , private sector , development economics , economics , economic liberalization , economic system , political science , democracy , market economy , economic growth , art , literature , algorithm , computer science , law
This article reviews the extensive political and economic literature since 1990 on corruption in Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore. After considering each country's individual recent history of corruption, the article comparatively analyses the relationship of corruption in these countries with, respectively, the roles of the state, the private sector and external actors, democratisation and decentralisation, and the impact of corruption on economic growth and inequality. Our conclusion is that while economic liberalisation, democratisation and centralisation of state power influence the forms of corruption and its impact on national economic performance, they are neither necessary nor sufficient for its decline.