Corruption and education: an interdisciplinary approach
Master thesis
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http://hdl.handle.net/11250/135574Utgivelsesdato
2010Metadata
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Sammendrag
Objective. This article will begin by defining corruption, looking at the causes of and
phenomenon correlated with corruption, as well as comparing some of the current solutions
being proposed for dealing with it, and attempt to determine if higher education could lead to
corruption. The aim of this research is to accept one of the following hypotheses:
H1 : Higher Education might lead to corruption in developing countries
H0 : Higher Education does not necessarily lead to corruption in developing
countries
Also important to this analysis is the notion that by focusing on providing basic
resources, to citizens with-in society, an anti-corruption scheme is laying the foundation for long
term corruption reduction, something that, despite the recently heightened attention and billions
of dollars of funding world wide has been elusive thus far among anti-corruption initiatives.
Method. In order to achieve this aim an interdisciplinary analytical model of corruption
phenomena is created where a (1) Micro analysis (2) Marco analysis (3) Wide analysis and
finally a (4) Long analysis are assessed and combined in order to form a deeper understanding of
education and its interplay with corruption. With-in this model various research and theories
from diverse disciplines will be considered, some of which perhaps for the first time in
connection with corruption, including; the social cognitive theory, Kohlberg’s framework of
moral development, Klitgaard’s C = M + D - A corruption calculus, and the resource arena view
of quality of life originated by Coleman (1971) and adapted by Falkenberg (1998), in
conjunction with a review of select empirical findings and widely supported theoretical concepts
to include moral suasion. Personal interviews with subject matter experts from USAID will also
be included in the analysis. Both perception and experience based corruption data will be used in
the analysis, which is intended to add credibility to this interdisciplinary look at corruption and
education due to the ever-prevalent questions of accuracy and reliability regarding corruption
occurrence figures. The aim of using an interdisciplinary approach is to begin to create linkages
between disciples and fill gaps that have prevented a holistic understanding of corruption and the
phenomena surrounding it.
Results. This article identifies a large divide in education between individuals in country
leadership and the average citizen to be a potential cause of corruption in developing countries
while an over all increase in education levels in society is thought to decrease corruption and
build the foundations needed in a society for long term corruption reduction. Conclusion. The
most important discovery of this article is the current lack of interdisciplinary cooperation among
researchers in the many disciplines that are involved in anti-corruption initiatives. The hope is
that the interdisciplinary model created here can be further used to create linkages that will allow
for a deeper understanding of the phenomenon surrounding corruption. Future research is needed
in order to create these linkages between the varied disciplines involved in the complex
phenomena surrounding corruption, especially where a distinct lack of attention to some of the
social sciences such as psychology and history was revealed while current research, and policy
creation, has been heavily weighted toward economic causes and cures perhaps detrimentally to
all but the elite in developing countries. This article does its part by using an interdisciplinary
model of analysis to find support for the notion that anti-corruption schemes will be more
effective in the long run if, among other things, they make narrowing the education gap between
the general population in society and the highly educated leadership in developing countries a
high priority.
Beskrivelse
Masteroppgave i økonomi og administrasjon - Universitetet i Agder 2010