The Logic of Corruption
Why it Persists and Why Reforms Fail
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Cambridge University Press
Publishing:10th Dec '26
£95.00
This title is due to be published on 10th December, and will be despatched as soon as possible.
This hardback is available in another edition too:
- Paperback£32.00(9781009566247)
The book offers an original account of corruption's 'sticky' nature and proposes an agenda for reform.Corruption continues despite abundant government legislation, public protests, and an overwhelming consensus that it threatens modern liberal institutions, hard-earned global prosperity, human rights, and justice. While we understand corruption better than the ancients, the puzzle of why it remains a timeless societal vice remains unsolved. This book addresses that puzzle by challenging assumptions about individual behavior and bureaucratic design. It analyzes corruption in three of India's major state bureaucracies. The book argues that corruption is organized into grand and petty forms, rather than being uniform. Several markets for grand and petty corruption exist within bureaucracies, linked to and driven by the market for grand corruption in bureaucratic transfers controlled by politicians. The nature, strength, and stability of these linkages explain the persistence of corruption and why top-down approaches fail. The book offers an original account of corruption's 'sticky' nature and proposes an agenda for reform.
'The book documents how and why concerted efforts from Indian authorities to tackle corruption in the decades after independence failed to alter the corruption that continues to flourish among street-level bureaucrats. Its nuanced efforts to definitionally unpack the dynamics of corruption by disaggregating its plural forms will be of value to anyone interested in the ways that corruption enables or constrains effective policymaking, no matter the developmental context.' Diane E. Davis, Harvard University
'This book skillfully combines theoretical analysis and case studies on corruption, offering new perspectives on both sides. Focused on India, but with potential applications in all countries, this is valuable reading for academic scholars and policy designers alike.' Avinash Dixit, Princeton University
'Chandra Shekhar brings his deep experience, insight, and multidisciplinary background to understand the enduring problem of government corruption. This book is a must-read for anyone working on the multiple social and political issues raised by systemic corruption. It is a clear and compelling example of the power of careful analysis that enriches theory and provides tools for discerning intervention.' Sally Haslanger, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
'Drawing on insights from economics, political science, and sociology, Chandra Shekhar's nuanced analysis of the supply side of bureaucratic corruption highlights the complex interactions between petty and grand corruption.' Susan Rose-Ackerman, Yale University
ISBN: 9781009566254
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: 670g
330 pages