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Archives of Business Research – Vol. 10, No. 1
Publication Date: January 25, 2022
DOI:10.14738/abr.101.11562. Bozdo, R. (2022). Perception of Corruption and the Relationship With Other Variables. Archives of Business Research, 10(01). 61-
68.
Services for Science and Education – United Kingdom
Perception of Corruption and the Relationship With Other
Variables
Rejla Bozdo
University of Tirana, Elbasan Str. 1005, Tirana, Albania
ABSTRACT
People perceive corruption at a rate that might not always be concurrent with the
level of real corruption. Despite the fact, research on perception can help
governments and other institutions better understand how to deal with the
problem. This paper addresses the perception of corruption and its relationship
with other variables of daily life, such as perception of the economy, education,
health, security and politics in general, thus to investigate at what level the
perception of corruption relates with or impacts the expectations and trust in other
areas. The 369 respondents in the dataset, used for the analysis, live in Albania and
have a mean age of 34.57 years old. Albania’s Corruption Index of Transparency
International increased during 2020 by five points compared to 2013. 2020, this is
at the level of 36 points, ranked 104th . While in 2013, it was 31 points.
Keywords: corruption, perception of corruption, trust, culture, relationship
INTRODUCTION
Even if corruption itself and the perception of corruption may be at different levels, research
shows that high levels of corruption perception could have more devastating effects on the
corruption itself, as it generates “a culture of distrust” towards some institutions and may
create a cultural tradition of gift giving, hence, augmenting corruption. [1]
[2] defines corruption as the abuse of public roles or resources for personal benefit, and
emphasizes that “abuse”, “public”, “private”, and even “benefit” are mostly matters of
contention in many societies and of various degrees of ambiguity. The author points out that
systemic corruption problems disrupt development ideal in a variety of ways symptomatic of
underlying participation and institutional problems, by so being a symptom of development
difficulties. The cost of corruption is that corruption delays and distorts political and economic
development. Michael J. [2]
Corruption is one of the largest problems in our societies today. The OECD document on “Public
Integrity” [6] considers corruption as one of the most corrosive issues of our time that wastes
public resources, widens economic and social inequalities, breeds discontent, polarizes politics
and reduces trust in institutions. The perception of government corruption in OECD countries
has a strong negative relationship with levels of trust in government. [3] OECD defines trust as
a person’s belief that another person or institution will act consistently with their expectations
of positive behaviour. [4]
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Archives of Business Research (ABR) Vol. 10, Issue 1, January-2022
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[5] found that the poor and the uneducated tend to perceive higher levels of corruption than
the wealthy and the well-educated. However, this relationship only holds in countries at high
levels of economic development. In poorer countries, the statistical relationship is much
weaker and sometimes runs in the opposite direction. An alternative for their findings is that
lower income citizens actually observe more corruption. Their study helps us in the dimension
that corruption perceptions will vary based on who is being asked.
This idea is also supported by [1] who in their research conclude that corruption perception
decreases with socioeconomic status, the wealthier the people are and the higher their social
standing is, the more benevolent are their views of the world and of other people.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY AND RESEARCH RESULTS
In this research, 369 people in Albania were asked through an online survey, on how they
perceive corruption levels during December 2021 and their trust if corruption situation will
improve next year. They were also asked on other issues as: their trust that justice will improve
next year; their trust if economy will improve next year; their trust if politics will improve next
year; their trust if education will improve next year; their trust if health situation will improve
next year; their trust if order and security situation will improve next year.
This paper analyzes if there is any potential correlation between the perception of corruption
and perception of other variables as economy, politics, education, health, order and security.
The age mean of the group in the study is 34.57 years (minimum age of respondents is 18 years
old, maximum age of respondents is 74 years old; age 18 – 38 years old make 60.5% of total);
41.1% of respondents are males and 58.9% are females. The distribution of respondents is from
31 cities all over Albania, from which 73.9% of respondents live in Tirana, the capital of Albania.
Asked on the level of corruption they perceive, the respondents answered in a scale from 0 to
10 (0 – not at all; 10 – extremely much) with a mean of 8.86. (Fig. 1)
(Fig. 1) Descriptive Statistics on the perception of corruption
N Minimum Maximum Mean Std. Deviation
What is the level of
corruption? 366 0 10 8.86 2.341
Valid N (listwise) 366
Asked on the trend of corruption they perceive for the next year (future), only 5.4 % of the
respondents answered positively, believing that the level of corruption will decrease during
2022. 39.4% of respondents believe that the level of corruption will increase during 2022, and
55% of respondents believe that the level of corruption will stay the same. (Fig. 2)
(Fig. 2) What is the trend of corruption for the next year?
Frequency Percent Valid Percent
Cumulative
Percent
Valid It will increase 145 39.4 39.5 39.5
It will not change 202 54.9 55.0 94.6
It will decrease 20 5.4 5.4 100.0
Total 367 99.7 100.0
Missing System 1 .3
Total 368 100.0
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Bozdo, R. (2022). Perception of Corruption and the Relationship With Other Variables. Archives of Business Research, 10(01). 61-68.
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.14738/abr.101.11562
The same respondents were asked on their perception levels if other areas of everyday life will
improve during 2022. They gave their opinion on economy, politics, education, health and order
and security. (Fig. 3) shows how they rated each of the variables, in a scale from 0 to 10.
(Fig. 3) Descriptive Statistics for all variables
N Minimum Maximum Mean Std. Deviation
• What is the level
of trust you have
that JUSTICE will
improve next
year?
367 0 10 2.10 2.464
• What is the level
of trust you have
that ECONOMY
will improve next
year?
366 0 10 2.25 2.380
• What is the level
of trust you have
that POLITICS
will improve next
year?
365 0 10 1.60 2.351
• What is the level
of trust you have
that EDUCATION
will improve next
year?
366 0 10 1.99 2.412
• What is the level
of trust you have
that HEALTH will
improve next
year?
366 0 10 1.94 2.306
• What is the level
of trust you have
that ORDER AND
SECURITY will
improve next
year?
365 0 10 2.00 2.441
• Valid N (listwise) 363
Asked on what is the overall situation compared to last year, 20.5% of the respondents say that
this year is better compared to last year, and 42.1% of respondents say that this year the
situation is worse compared to last year. (Fig. 4)
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Archives of Business Research (ABR) Vol. 10, Issue 1, January-2022
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(Fig. 4) Overall situation compared to last year
Frequency Percent Valid Percent
Cumulative
Percent
Valid The same 137 37.2 37.4 37.4
Worse 154 41.8 42.1 79.5
Better 75 20.4 20.5 100.0
Total 366 99.5 100.0
Missing System 2 .5
Total 368 100.0
Furthermore, herein is analyzed the data of respondents giving extreme answers. From this
dataset, the maximum scale of 10 (extremely much) for the level of corruption has been rated
by 64.5% of respondents. Noted that, this is a very high rate for the maximum level of
corruption perceived in the country.
For other variables, 0 (zero) is an extreme value that rates at 0 (zero) the level of trust that the
situation will improve next year (2022). The value 0 for the level of trust that next year the
situation will be improved has been chosen by the respondents in percentages for each variable,
as shown below:
Justice - 43.1 %; Economy – 34.7 %; Politics – 54.2 %; Education – 41.3 %; Health – 40.7 %;
Order & Security – 41.9 %
For all variables, the extreme value of 0 (zero) is chosen from more than 40% of respondents.
This is also a high rate of negative perceptions.
On a specific question “Does perception of corruption correlate with the perception of each
other variable (justice, economy, politics, education, health, order and security)?” it is found
from the data analyzed, that there is a negative correlation between corruption and justice. It is
weak, at the level of -0.142, but it is significant. (Fig. 5)
(Fig. 5) Correlations Corruption - Justice
What is the
level of
corruption?
What is the
level of trust
you have that
JUSTICE will
improve next
year?
What is the level of
corruption?
Pearson Correlation 1 -.142**
Sig. (2-tailed) .007
N 366 366
What is the level of trust
you have that JUSTICE
will improve next year?
Pearson Correlation -.142** 1
Sig. (2-tailed) .007
N 366 367
**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed)
From the data analyzed, there is a negative correlation between corruption and economy. It is
weak, at the level of -0.103, but it is not significant. (Fig. 6)
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Bozdo, R. (2022). Perception of Corruption and the Relationship With Other Variables. Archives of Business Research, 10(01). 61-68.
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.14738/abr.101.11562
(Fig. 6) Correlations Corruption - Economy
What is the
level of
corruption?
What is the
level of trust
you have that
ECONOMY will
improve next
year?
What is the level of
corruption?
Pearson Correlation 1 -.103
Sig. (2-tailed) .050
N 366 365
What is the level of trust
you have that ECONOMY
will improve next year?
Pearson Correlation -.103 1
Sig. (2-tailed) .050
N 365 366
From the data analyzed, there is a negative correlation between corruption and politics. It is
weak, at the level of -0.063, but it is not significant. (Fig. 7)
(Fig. 7) Correlations Corruption - Politics
What is the
level of
corruption?
What is the
level of trust
you have that
POLITICS will
improve next
year?
What is the level of
corruption?
Pearson Correlation 1 -.063
Sig. (2-tailed) .234
N 366 364
What is the level of trust
you have that POLITICS
will improve next year?
Pearson Correlation -.063 1
Sig. (2-tailed) .234
N 364 365
From the data analyzed, there is a negative correlation between corruption and education. It is
weak, at the level of -0.137, but it is significant. (Fig. 8)
(Fig. 8) Correlations Corruption - Education
What is the level
of corruption?
What is the level
of trust you have
that
EDUCATION will
improve next
year?
What is the level of
corruption?
Pearson Correlation 1 -.137**
Sig. (2-tailed) .009
N 366 365
What is the level of trust
you have that EDUCATION
will improve next year?
Pearson Correlation -.137** 1
Sig. (2-tailed) .009
N 365 366
**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).
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Archives of Business Research (ABR) Vol. 10, Issue 1, January-2022
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From the data analyzed, there is a negative correlation between corruption and order and
security. It is weak, at the level of -0.106, and it is significant. (Fig. 9)
(Fig. 9) Correlations Corruption – Order and Security
What is the
level of
corruption?
What is the
level of trust
you have that
ORDER AND
SECURITY will
improve next
year?
What is the level of
corruption?
Pearson Correlation 1 -.106*
Sig. (2-tailed) .043
N 366 364
What is the level of trust
you have that ORDER
AND SECURITY will
improve next year?
Pearson Correlation -.106* 1
Sig. (2-tailed) .043
N 364 365
*. Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed).
From the data analyzed, there is a negative correlation between corruption and health. It is
weak, at the level of -0.119, and it is significant. (Fig. 10)
(Fig. 10) Correlations Corruption - Health
What is the
level of
corruption?
What is the
level of trust
you have that
HEALTH will
improve next
year?
What is the level of
corruption?
Pearson Correlation 1 -.119*
Sig. (2-tailed) .023
N 366 365
What is the level of trust
you have that HEALTH
will improve next year?
Pearson Correlation -.119* 1
Sig. (2-tailed) .023
N 365 366
*. Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed).
Perception of corruption has a significant negative relation with the variable “justice”,
“education”, “health”, “order and security”, while the data analysis shows no significant
correlation of perception of corruption with “economy” and “politics”. One potential
explanation why this happens, might be that in some areas, where people take direct services,
the perception of corruption is more concrete rather than in broader and general areas such as
politics and economy, for which they don’t have any direct measure of the corruption to create
a perception.
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Bozdo, R. (2022). Perception of Corruption and the Relationship With Other Variables. Archives of Business Research, 10(01). 61-68.
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.14738/abr.101.11562
Another result of the data analysis for this group of respondents is that the means of rating for
males are higher than the ones made by female respondents. Males perceive corruption at a
higher rate (9.07 out of 10) compared to females 8.71 out of 10. (Fig. 11)
Regarding the expectations for next year, male respondents are more optimistic than females
in all variables. (Fig. 11)
(Fig. 11) Report for all variables according to gender
Gender
What is
the level of
corruptio
n?
What is
the level of
trust you
have that
JUSTICE
will
improve
next year?
What is
the level of
trust you
have that
ECONOMY
will
improve
next year?
What is
the level of
trust you
have that
POLITICS
will
improve
next year?
What is
the level of
trust you
have that
EDUCATI
ON will
improve
next year?
What is
the level of
trust you
have that
HEALTH
will
improve
next year?
What is
the level of
trust you
have that
ORDER
/SECURIT
Y will
improve
next year?
Male Mean 9.07 2.30 2.40 1.85 2.08 1.95 2.11
N 149 150 150 150 150 150 149
Std.
Deviation 1.900 2.503 2.567 2.506 2.451 2.371 2.540
Female Mean 8.71 1.95 2.15 1.45 1.91 1.92 1.91
N 214 214 213 212 213 213 213
Std.
Deviation 2.609 2.434 2.255 2.238 2.381 2.279 2.363
Total Mean 8.86 2.10 2.25 1.61 1.98 1.93 1.99
N 363 364 363 362 363 363 362
Std.
Deviation 2.348 2.465 2.389 2.357 2.408 2.314 2.436
Throughout the study is analyzed if there any significant gender difference in each variable.
Independent t-test do not show any significant gender difference regarding the variables
justice, economy, politics, health, education, order and security.
CONCLUSIONS
Respondents in Albania perceive a very high level of corruption, at a mean of 8.86 out of 10.
Respondents believe that the trend of corruption they perceive for the next year (future) will
decrease - 5.4 %; will increase - 39.4%; 55% of respondents believe that the level of corruption
will stay the same (8.86). This data makes the situation pessimistic as they actually perceive a
very high level of corruption and they still believe it will worsen.
Respondents trust that the situation will recuperate during next year in areas such as justice,
economy, politics, education, health, order and security, where they stand separately at a scale
less than 3 (scale 0 to 10). The lowest rate is for politics with the values of 1.6 and the highest
rate is for economy with the scale of 2.25.
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Archives of Business Research (ABR) Vol. 10, Issue 1, January-2022
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The test of correlation between corruption and other variables in this study shows that the
perceived corruption correlates with the level of trust of the justice, education, health, order
and security’s variables. The perceived level of corruption does not correlate with variables of
economy and politics. An alleged explanation may be the fact that for justice, education, health,
order and security respondents have a clear picture because they take direct services in these
areas, so perception is related with direct actions. Economy and politics are broad and rather
general issues.
From descriptive statistics it is noted that males have a higher mean rate of perceived
corruption than females (9.07 males; 8.71 females), but independent t-test do not confirm any
significant differences between gender groups.
Independent t-test shows no differences between gender groups also for the variable justice,
economy, politics, education, health, order and security.
References
[1] Melgar N., Rossi M., Smith T., 2010, The perception of corruption, International Journal of Public Opinion
Research Vol. 22, No. 1, Oxford University Press, doi: 10.1093/ijpor/edp0o58
[2] Johnston M., 2005, Syndromes of Corruption, Wealth, Power and Democracy, Cambridge University Press,
ISBN-13 978-0-52161859-5
[3] Government at a Glance 2019, OECD. Retrieved at: https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/sites/8ccf5c38-
en/1/2/10/1/index.html?itemId=/content/publication/8ccf5c38-
en&_csp_=40825562de64089b975c3e83eb3f6e04&itemIGO=oecd&itemContentType=book
[4] OECD Guidelines on Measuring Trust, OECD Publishing, Paris. http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264278219-
en
[5] Maeda K., Ziegfled A., 2015, Socioeconomic status and corruption perceptions around the world, Research
and Politics, Sage Publications. DOI: 10.1177/2053168015580838
[6] https://www.oecd.org/gov/ethics/OECD-Recommendation-Public-Integrity.pdf