Corruption and Government: Causes, Consequences, and Reform - Softcover

This book suggests how high levels of corruption limit investment and growth and lead to ineffective government. Developing countries and those making a transition from socialism are particularly at risk, but corruption is a worldwide phenomenon. Corruption creates economic inefficiencies and inequities, but reforms are possible to reduce the material benefits from payoffs. Corruption is not just an economic problem, however; it is also intertwined with politics. Reform may require changes in both constitutional structures and the underlying relationship of the market and the state. Effective reform cannot occur unless both the international community and domestic political leaders support change.

"Susan Rose-Ackerman's Corruption and Government is a rich survey of the economics and politics of corruption, with attention to apparent cultural differences and a tough effort to commend devices for reform. The benefits, even in achieving greater justice, of individual instances of corruption, especially against a background pattern of bribery, make the problem of corruption essentially an issue of public good versus individual benefit. But Rose-Ackerman gives accounts of successful programs of ending or massively reducing varied forms of corruption. And she gives reason to believe that, once corruption is overcome, the practice of clean government can be very stable." Russell Hardin, New York University

"Susan Rose-Ackerman is the founder of the recent political-economic literature on corruption. In this book she extends and deepens her earlier analysis to cover the manifold aspects of this persistent problem, particularly virulent in economies in the process of development and transition, and provides a balanced and sophisticated discussion of the necessary reform agenda for both domestic actors and the international community. As governance and institutional issues get primacy in the academic literature and public policy discussion, this book will be a major reference volume." Pranab Bardhan, University of California at Berkeley

"Susan Rose-Ackerman's book offers a clear cut analysis of corruption, particularly at the interface of government and the market. She spells out how corruption is not just as an economic problem but intimately bound up with politics." African Business

"The present work, intended for a broad general audience, focuses on the way corruption affects developing countries and those in transition from state socialism." Choice

"For anyone involved or interested in development issues, or in international affairs generally, this is an important book to read and to set your compass by." Canadian Public Administration