CORRUPTION INDEXES

 

Regional Corruption Monitoring in
Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Macedonia, Romania, and Yugoslavia

Macrh 2001

 

CONTENTS

SURVEY METHODOLOGY

CORRUPTION INDEXES

MAIN PROBLEMS FACED BY THE BALKAN COUNTRIES

ATTITUDES TOWARDS CORRUPTION

INVOLVEMENT IN CORRUPT PRACTICESINVOLVEMENT IN CORRUPT PRACTICES

ASSESSMENTS OF THE SPREAD OF CORRUPTION

CORRUPTION EXPECTATIONS

 

The Southeast European Legal Development Initiative (SELDI) started in late 1998. It was launched by the Center for the Study of Democracy and the International Development Law Institute, Rome. SELDI brings together non-governmental organizations, representatives of various government organizations and experts from different countries of South Eastern Europe. It provides an opportunity for cooperation between public institutions, governments, international agencies and individuals in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Macedonia, Romania, and Yugoslavia.

The Regional Corruption Monitoring System is an essential part of the activity of SELDI.

The present report outlines the key findings of the Regional Corruption Monitoring carried out in seven countries of South Eastern Europe - Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Romania, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro), and Croatia. The surveys conducted in these countries were based on the methodology of the Corruption Monitoring System of Coalition 2000 and marked the beginning of the implementation of a Regional Corruption Monitoring System. The main goal of this comparative analysis of the seven countries from the Balkan region is to show the public significance of the problem of corruption and the extent to which corruption has penetrated into the various elements of society.

 

Sample Size
National representative survey of the population aged 18+ in each country.

	Sample Size
Albania	1001
Bosnia and Herzegovina	1000
Bulgaria	1158
Macedonia	1000
Romania	1000
Croatia	1000
Serbia	976
Montenegro	604

Survey method
The survey method used is face-to-face interview.

Field work
Field work was conducted between September 15, 2000 - February 13, 2001.

 

CORRUPTION INDEXES

 

MAIN PROBLEMS FACED BY THE BALKAN COUNTRIES

The most important problems of the Balkan countries at present are social and economic - unemployment, poverty, low incomes. The issues related to government, the political system, and ethnic tensions increasingly tend to be considered of secondary importance among public priorities. By its scope and depth, the problem of corruption is serious importance to the countries in the region. Its importance is accounted for by the fact that corruption tends to infiltrate economic life, governments, political systems, and institutional structures in these societies.

TABLE 1. MAIN PROBLEMS IN THE COUNTRIES OF SEE

v	Albania	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Bulgaria	Macedonia	Romania	Croatia	Serbia	Montenegro
Unemployment	44,40%	60,90%	67,80%	75,30%	39,50%	66,00%	30,30%	53,10%
Low incomes	39,30%	39,60%	49,00%	62,00%	41,30%	39,10%	39,20%	35,60%
Poverty	24,40%	29,80%	41,50%	1,10%	50,60%	31,60%	39,70%	34,80%
Corruption	60,80%	47,60%	37,50%	35,10%	59,90%	41,70%	37,20%	30,80%
Crime	36,00%	32,90%	25,70%	27,60%	10,20%	33,50%	44,10%	31,50%
High prices	24,00%	10,90%	22,40%	25,40%	35,60%	27,30%	24,70%	21,20%
Political instability	49,60%	37,00%	17,00%	33,20%	29,90%	20,10%	47,80%	59,30%
Health Care	3,70%	9,90%	14,00%	7,20%	17,40%	7,10%	8,70%	4,00%
Environment pollution	5,20%	3,80%	2,70%	6,00%	1,60%	2,80%	2,50%	4,80%
Education	3,90%	4,60%	2,10%	3,70%	7,90%	4,40%	6,30%	4,50%
Ethnic problems	3,00%	15,60%	1,70%	14,90%	2,40%	7,00%	10,20%	8,60%

* The total of percentages exceeds 100 as respondents could give up to three answers

ATTITUDES TOWARDS CORRUPTION

Acceptability in Principle

This index reflects the extent to which various corrupt practices are tolerated within the value system.

Its value is highest in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, and Croatia, and lowest, in Bulgaria and Romania. This substantial difference indicates that, in terms of their value system, the citizens of the first four countries are more inclined to accept the existence of corrupt practices in their societies than those in the remaining states. The generally low values of the index in the countries of the region (with the exception of Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina) show that corruption is widely perceived as morally inadmissible. As a whole, the level of tolerance in principle of the various corrupt practices is relatively low.

FIGURE 1. ACCEPTABILITY IN PRINCIPLE

Susceptibility to corruption

This index measures citizens' inclination to compromise on their values under the pressure of practical circumstances.

In all countries the value of this index is higher than the preceding one. This means that the moral denunciation of corruption as a negative phenomenon does not exclude the existence and efficiency of corrupt practices in everyday practice. In cases of conflict between practical interests and value system, many citizens tend to compromise on their principles to achieve their ends. The low tolerance of corrupt behavior and the high susceptibility to such acts are the key preconditions for the following, commonplace philosophy of life: corruption is a "necessary evil" that successfully solves practical problems.

FIGURE 2. SUSCEPTIBILITY TO CORRUPTION

INVOLVEMENT IN CORRUPT PRACTICESINVOLVEMENT IN CORRUPT PRACTICES

Corruption pressure

The index measures the spread of attempts by public sector employees to directly or indirectly pressure citizens in order to solicit money, gifts, or favors.

The values of the index suggest that in the countries of the region involvement in corrupt practices not always a direct outcome of open individual, collective, or institutional coercion. As a whole, corruption pressure in these societies is not particularly intense (with the sole exception of Albania). In the regional context corrupt practices are sustained not so much by social pressure but by the mechanisms of private interests, practical necessity, and personal choice of the citizens and the public sector employees.

FIGURE 3. CORRUPTION PRESSURE

 

Corruption pressure by professional groups

Table 2 shows the considerable differences when determining the degree of direct coercion on the part of public sector employees over the citizens of the seven Balkan countries. Despite the notable presence of specific national characteristics, there is at least one important similarity. It consists in the empirically registered fact that, doctors and public officials (police and customs officers, tax, municipal, and court officials) exert the strongest corruption pressure.

TABLE 2. "IF IN THE COURSE OF THE PAST YEAR IF YOU HAVE BEEN ASKED FOR SOMETHING IN ORDER TO HAVE A PROBLEM OF YOURS SOLVED, YOU WERE ASKED BY:"

v	Albania	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Bulgaria	Macedonia	Romania	Croatia	Serbia	Montenegro
Police officer	52,00%	25,70%	24,00%	14,40%	34,00%	24,80%	42,40%	38,40%
Doctor	62,60%	19,90%	22,10%	20,20%	35,10%	16,60%	33,60%	19,50%
Customs officer	55,60%	15,90%	15,80%	21,80%	20,50%	10,50%	42,80%	21,60%
University professor or official	29,00%	9,80%	13,90%	16,30%	15,00%	8,40%	17,20%	8,70%
Administrative official in the judicial system	47,00%	9,90%	11,50%	10,60%	22,30%	6,70%	19,40%	9,40%
Municipal official	52,50%	19,10%	10,30%	11,90%	26,90%	11,30%	27,20%	19,30%
Businessman	30,50%	8,50%	9,70%	13,20%	17,80%	16,10%		Home | Site map | Send a link | Privacy policy | Calls | RSS feed	Page top