Objective or Perception-Based: A Debate on the Ideal Measure of Corruption

Abstract

Cornell International Law Journal: Vol. 50 : No. 1 , Article 4.Kazakhstan, usually regarded as a country plagued by high levels of corruption, has recently adopted several legislative and non-legislative measures to address the problem and hopefully to curb corruption. In order to assess the effectiveness of the anticorruption policies, several institutions—from the Institute of Public Policy of the Nur Otan party to the former Academy of Financial Police of the Republic of Kazakhstan—have attempted to conceive, develop, and apply various methodologies to estimate the level of corruption across sectors and over time in Kazakhstan. By developing and applying these newly conceived measures of corruption, policy makers hoped to achieve three basic results: 1) to assess whether and to what extent anti-corruption policies generated the expected results and contributed to the reduction of corruption in the country; 2) to develop a better understanding of the areas/sectors in which anti-corruption policies have been more effective in reducing corruption; and 3) to identify areas/sectors where it is harder to eradicate or at least reduce the level of corruption and where greater efforts are needed.