ABSTRACT
How do we measure some thing that is, by its very nature, largely hidden? This is the conundrum that faces all who have attemp ted to develop a means of meas ur ing corrup tion. Given the seem ingly intract able nature of this problem, the obvious ques tion is why we should want to measure a phenomenon that is not only covert, but notori ously diffi cult even to defi ne. There are, in fact, several reasons for doing so: fi rst, it is import ant to assess the scale of the issue, in terms of its extent, loca tion and trends, so that we know what we are dealing with. Second, we want to see whether there are any clear patterns in order, third, to help identify explan at ory vari ables that will aid our under stand ing of why and where corrup tion devel ops. In short, meas ur ing corrup tion will help us see better where we need to take action, as well as helping us decide both what that action should be and assess ing whether it has worked. As we shall see, however, attempts at meas ur ing corrup tion can lead to unin ten ded consequences.
