This study is an empirical approach to answering the question: are there any universal factors that account for the origin, diffusion and persistence of corruption in human societies? The paper enquires whether the perception of corruption in politics and economics can be tackled as a form of cultural adaptation, driven by exogenous and endogenous forces. These are respectively: freedom of access and management of economic resources, and the pressures towards human grouping. Following the analytical insights of cultural theory, developed by Mary Douglas and later Aaron Wildavsky, variation is introduced through the ways in which corruption is perceived through the different behavioral and cultural biases that prevail in societies. This research introduces a cross-country comparative analysis of 57 countries attempting to test quantitatively whether institutional pressure and emphasis towards social grouping are correlated with corruption perception at country levels.
In the state we trust? - democratization, corruption and development, Alan Doig democratization or the democratization of corruption? - the case of Uganda, David Watt, Rachel Flanery et al causes and consequences of corruption - Mozambique in transition, David Stasavage the changing context of corruption control - the Hong Kong special administrative region, 1997-99, Jonathan Moran combating corruption in Botswana - regional role model or deviant case? Robin Theobald and Robert Williams democracy, development and anto-corruption strategies - learning from the Australian experience, Robert Williams conclusion - prospects for reform in a globalized ceonomy, Robin Theobald.
We prove that groups acting geometrically on delta-quasiconvex spaces contain no essential Baumslag-Solitar quotients as subgroups. This implies that they are translation discrete, meaning that the translation numbers of their nontorsion elements are bounded away from zero.