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Економічна безпека держави відіграє значну роль в процесі забезпечення подальшого економічного розвитку країни, впро-вадження ефективної соціальної політики, збільшенні рівня національної конкурентоспроможності в умовах міжнародної економічної співпраці. Здійснивши узагальнення різних підходів, автори прийшли до висновку, що в наукових колах визначення сутності економічної безпеки держави досліджують виходячи з різних базових параметрів, що і формує неоднозначність у розумінні даної категорії. На думку авторів, під економічною безпекою держави слід розуміти стан національної економіки, який дає змогу зберігати стійкість до зовнішніх та внутрішніх загроз, забезпечити її зовнішню незалежність і внутрішню стабільність, здатність підтримувати послідовну реалізацію національно-державних інтересів, стійку дієздатність суб’єктів господарювання та нормальні умови життєдіяльності населення. Трансформація умов функціонування сучасного світу формує значну кількість загроз економічній безпеці держави, серед яких ключову позицію займає корупція, процес масш-табування якої в Україні має загрозливий характер, що пов’язано із руйнуванням не лише окремих сторін життя суспільства, але й загрозою існування країни в цілому. Ґрунтуючись на нормах міжнародного законодавства, що ратифіковані Україною, в статті були наведені основні ознаки корупції; а також визначені основні класифікаційні ознаки, за якими можна надати характеристику корупції. Автори навели основні загрози корупції, що мають реальний негативний вплив на економічну без-пеку держави, а саме: зростання розмірів тіньової економіки; недостатньо ефективне використання бюджетних коштів різних рівнів; зниження рівня довіри до держави та її можливості регулювати економічні процеси; сприяння соціальній нерів-ності та збільшення розриву доходів між різними верствами населення та інші. Дані висновки були підтверджені за допомо-гою аналізу окремих даних, зокрема індексу сприйняття корупції, індикатора рівня тіньової економіки. На основі трендової моделі був зроблений розрахунок прогнозних значень індексу сприйняття корупції в Україні, які засвідчили позитивні зміни щодо питань, пов’язаних із процесами декорумпізації в країні. В статті автори зазначили, що на сучасному етапі економіч-ного розвитку, з метою зниження рівня корупції в державі, необхідно створити ефективну систему антикорупційних дій, встановити нові прозорі правила відносин суспільства, влади і бізнесу. Economic security of the state plays a significant role in ensuring further economic development of the country, implementation of effective social policy, increasing the level of national competitiveness in the context of international economic cooperation. Summarizing different approaches, the authors concluded that in the scientific environment the definition of the essence of economic security of the state is studied on the basis of different basic parameters, which creates ambiguity in the understanding of this category. According to the authors, the economic security of the state should be understood as such a state of the national economy that allows to maintain resistance to external and internal threats, to ensure its external independence and internal stability, the ability to support the consistent implementation of national and state interests, stable capacity of economic entities and normal living conditions of the population. The transformation of the conditions of functioning of the modern world creates a significant number of threats to the economic security of the state, among which corruption occupies a key position. The scale of corruption in Ukraine is threatening, which is associated with the destruction of not only individual aspects of society, but also a threat to the existence of the country as a whole. The article defines the main and classification features of corruption on the basis of international law ratified by Ukraine, according to which corruption can be characterized. The authors cited the main threats of corruption, which have a real negative impact on the economic security of the state, namely: the growth of the shadow economy; insufficient use of budget funds at various levels; reducing the level of trust in the state and its ability to regulate economic processes; promoting social inequality and increasing the income gap between different segments of the population, etc. These conclusions were confirmed by the analysis of individual data, in particular the corruption perception index and the indicator of the level of shadow economy. In addition, based on the trend model, the forecast values of the corruption perception index in Ukraine were calculated, which showed positive changes in issues related to corruption processes in the country. In the article, the authors note that at the present stage of economic development, in order to reduce the level of corruption in the state, it is necessary to create an effective system of anti-corruption actions and establish new transparent rules of relations between society, government and business.

The article examines the peculiarities of national anti-corruption policy in the light of European integration processes, civil society development and full-scale war. It is noted that the negative impact of corruption is additionally manifested in the decline of the authority of the country, state authorities, moral values ​in society, it causes the penetration of a criminal component into state-management and social relations, as well as undermines the economic and political foundations of the state, blocks the inflow of foreign investments, which leads to shadowing of the economy. The concept of the index of perception of corruption and anti-corruption policy, its normative basis and institutional support are characterized. Comprehensive approaches to the development and implementation of changes to reduce the level of corruption in certain spheres of the state's life have been analyzed. The key shortcomings of the modern anti-corruption policy are outlined.It is substantiated that the important conditions for preserving the sovereignty of the state and restoring its territorial integrity are the proper armed repulsion of the invaders' encroachments, the provision of socio-economic foundations and political stability in the country. In these conditions, combating corruption continues to be a priority area of ​state policy and requires the state leadership to implement further radical anti-corruption measures in the state administration system. It has been proven that, along with repelling military aggression, the fight against corruption should be an equally urgent priority for all state authorities todayIt is emphasized that the issue of preventing and countering corruption, the formation of anti-corruption state policy does not lose its relevance neither during martial law nor in the post-war period. It was noted that Ukraine shows significant changes in this regard, despite the fact that almost all the resources of the state and society are now directed to the protection against unprovoked military aggression of the Russian Federation.Ways of improving the methodology of development and implementation of anti-corruption policy, taking into account the corruption perception index, are proposed., У статті досліджено особливості національної антикорупційної політики у світлі євроінтеграційних процесів, розвитку громадянського суспільства та повномасштабної війни. Зазначено, що негативний вплив корупції додатково виявляється в падінні авторитету країни, органів державної влади, моральних цінностей у суспільстві, вона зумовлює проникнення кримінальної складової в державно-управлінські та суспільні відносини, а також підриває економічні й політичні засади держави, блокує надходження іноземних інвестицій, що призводить до тінізації економіки. Охарактеризовано поняття індексу сприйняття корупції та антикорупційної політики, її нормативне підґрунтя і інституційне забезпечення. Проаналізовано комплексні підходи до розробки та впровадження змін задля зниження рівня корупції в окремих сферах життєдіяльності держави. Окреслено ключові недоліки сучасної антикорупційної політики. Обґрунтовано, що важливими умовами збереження суверенітету держави й відновлення її територіальної цілісності є належна збройна відсіч посягань окупантів, забезпечення соціально-економічних основ і політичної стабільності в країні. У цих умовах протидія корупції продовжує залишатися пріоритетним напрямом державної політики та вимагає від керівництва держави впровадження подальших кардинальних антикорупційних заходів у системі державного управління. Доведено, що поряд з відсіччю військової агресії не менш актуальним пріоритетом для всіх органів державної влади сьогодні має стати боротьба з корупцією. Наголошено, що, питання запобігання та протидії корупції, формування антикорупційної державної політики не втрачає своєї актуальності не під час дії військового стану ні у повоєнний період. Зауважено на тому що Україна демонструє суттєві зрушення у цьому, навіть незважаючи на те, що майже всі ресурси держави і суспільства зараз спрямовані на захист від неспровокованої військової агресії російської федерації. Запропоновано шляхи удосконалення методології розробки та реалізації антикорупційної політики з урахуванням індексу сприйняття корупції .

Open Government Data (OGD) refers to the datasets pertaining to the structural, functional and operational dimensions of government bodies and are available freely (in most cases) via dedicated web portals in machine-processable formats with government-mandated open license. OGD is available across multifarious domains like climate, energy, education, transport, finance, and a humungous set of sectors where the government operates (Janssen, 2011). As an advanced stage of e-government (electronic government) where the impetus is on citizen collaboration and participation in administration, OGD initiatives seek to refurbish public service delivery with this novel administrative innovation (Vetro et al., 2016). The launch of OGD initiatives by the governments around the globe is a phenomenal action in several countries. OGD is re-used by diverse set of stakeholders (academia, professionals, businesses, non-governmental organizations, and the like) for value creation and innovation. OGD is also known to bring about economic growth (Attard et al., 2015). Nonetheless, one of the main goals of any OGD initiative is to improve transparency of and trust on governmental operations and decisions (Gonzalvez-Gallego et al., 2020).

Research Purpose: The study investigated the impact of insecurity on sustainable economic growth of Nigeria, 1990-2021. Proxies for insecurity which serve as independent variables are corruption perception index, terrorism risk index, unemployment rate and kidnapping rate while the proxy for economic growth which serves as the dependent variable is Real Gross Domestic Product. Design/ Methodology/Approach: This study adopted the ex-post-factor research design. Bound test of Auto Regressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) model was used for econometric estimation. Findings: Result indicated that corruption perception index positively and significantly affected real Gross Domestic Product in Nigeria within the period of the study. Terrorism risk index negatively and non-significantly affected real Gross domestic product in Nigeria within the period of the study, there is a unidirectional causality running from unemployment rate and real gross domestic product in Nigeria within the period of the study. Kidnapping rate has negative and no significant impact on real gross domestic product of Nigeria Implication: Nigerian nation needs foreign intervention since terrorists have taken over forests across the nation. Nigeria must as a matter of urgency should develop visionary leadership: That is to say, the mantle of Leadership should be limited to leaders who can convey to their people the idea of a common citizenship as an ultimate factor among all Nigerians, regardless of tribe, gender, religion, economic and social status that focuses on facts and actions that will convincingly and positively affect all citizens of our nation. Nigerian government should ensure that justice and equity a cognate principle in all facets of national life must be enthroned. Government should immediately address the root causes of insecurity such as unemployment, terrorism, corruption and kidnapping through good governance. The leadership of Nigeria has compromised security of life and property. Originality/ Value added: Nigerian government is encouraged to develop the political will and holistic measures to solve the problems of insecurity now they have known the root causes. The solutions must be such that should be long lasting and all-encompassing to avoid a recurrence

Osnovni cilj završnog rada je prikaz utjecaja korupcije na izravna inozemna ulaganja. Rad promatra kako je kretanje indeksa percepcije korupcije povezano sa smanjenjem ili povećanjem priljeva izravnih inozemnih ulaganja. Kako bi se ostvarila poveznica između korupcije i izravnih inozemnih ulaganja uzeo se uzorak od pet najviše i pet najmanje korumpiranih zemalja u Europi. Usporedbom tih pokazatelja dolazi se do zaključka da postoji poveznica između izravnih inozemnih ulaganja i korupcije. Primjećuje se da različita geografska razmještenost zemalja ima utjecaj na kretanje izravnih inozemnih ulaganja ovisno o smanjenju ili povećanju indeksa korupcije. U svakoj promatranoj zemlji se barem u jednoj promatranoj godini primjećuje da povećanjem korupcije dolazi do povećanja priljeva izravnih inozemnih ulaganja. Primjećuje se i da stabilnošću indeksa percepcije korupcije u većini promatranih zemalja izravna inozemna ulaganja rastu. Osim prikazivanja poveznice korupcije i izravnih inozemnih ulaganja u radu se navode osnovne informacije o izravnim inozemnim ulaganjima i korupciji. Osnovne informacije su navedene kako bi se razumjeli sami pojmovi i njihova srž djelovanja. U radu su navedeni projekti i programi kojima se Europska unija služi u povećanju priljeva izravnih inozemnih ulaganja i smanjenju razine korumpiranosti u zemljama članicama., The main goal of the final paper is to present the impact of corruption on foreign direct investment. The paper observes that the movement of the corruption perception index is associated with a decrease or increase in foreign direct investment inflows. To establish a link between corruption and foreign direct investment, a sample of the five most and five least corrupt countries in Europe was taken. A comparison of these indicators leads to the conclusion that there is a link between foreign direct investment and corruption. It is noted that the different geographical distribution of countries has an impact on the movement of foreign direct investment depending on the decrease or increase of the corruption index. In each observed country is noticed that at least in one observed year the increase in corruption leads to an increase in foreign direct investment inflows. It is also noted that with the stability of the corruption perception index in most of the observed countries, foreign direct investment is growing. In addition to showing the link between corruption and foreign direct investment, the paper provides basic information on foreign direct investment and corruption. Basic information is provided to understand the concepts themselves and their core operation. The paper lists projects and programs used by the European Union to increase foreign direct investment inflows and reduce the level of corruption in countries.

Corruption represents the misuse of public power by government departments for personal gain, hindering a country’s economic growth. Corruption cannot be eliminated by implementing the national democratic system, and mature democratic countries also exist with varying degrees of corruption. Corruption affects people’s trust in the public sector and the country’s economic development. Open government data can help people understand the governance performance of the government to reduce corruption in the public sector. Citizens can use open government data to generate innovative applications and economic value. This study uses a two-stage data envelopment analysis method to assess the anti-corruption efficiency of 21 countries from 2013 to 2017 through open government data, the corruption perception index, and GDP data. Then, the efficiency analyzed is introduced into the BCG (Boston Consulting Group) matrix to observe the distribution of these 21 countries. Analyzing the results showed that Uruguay and Costa Rica in Central and South America are the two most influential countries in fighting corruption. Turkey is at the bottom in the evaluation of anti-corruption efficiency. In addition, discussions of the included countries for their possible improvement in anti-corruption are also provided by using the association rule’s analysis. The study results will provide a reference for governments to effectively carry out anti-corruption work in the future.

Corruption remains one of the main problems of Post-Soviet states. Georgia, Belarus, Lithuania, and Latvia are doing relatively well compared to other Post-Soviet states. Popular explanations for high corruption rates are underdevelopment of democratic institutions and the limitation of human rights. However, the lack of women’s participation can be also another factor that could explain the widespread corruption level. According to popular stereotypes, women are considered as more honest and “fairer” gender, which has an impact on the decrease in corruption rate. There is a belief that women have a perception of risk aversion which makes them less likely to engage in corrupt activities. There is no consensus regarding whether women’s participation has an effect on reducing corruption. The purpose of this paper is to test to what extent women’s participation in parliament, school and or with tertiary education, labor force affects corruption rate in Post-Soviet states. The SPSS software was used to assess a relationship between aforementioned variables. According to findings, there is a strong, positive, and statistically significant impact of women enrollment in school and/or with tertiary education on a country’s score in the Corruption Perception Index. I argue that promoting women’s education is the best way to lower corruption in the post-Soviet states.

Countries in the ASEAN region largely classified as a developing countries. Economic development in developing countries more slowly or lagging from behind developed countries. To catch up, needed enormous capital flows which can not be fulfilled by the flow of capital of domestic. The flow of foreign capital in the form of FDI can be solution in dealing with the limitations of domestic capital. FDI can be potential supporting sector in implementing economic development, besides transferring technologies and skill. The entry of FDI into the country can not be separated from the macroeconomic stability of the country. The purpose of this research was to determine the effect of indicators of fundamental Macroeconomics consisting of economic growth, interest rate, and exchange rate on FDI in five ASEAN countries (Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and the Philippines). The research use two analysis method, they are descriptive and quantitative analysis by using Panel Data Regression method which Fixed Effect Model approach. The result of Panel Data Regression which Fixed Effect Model approachshowed that the effect of variables of economic growth and the exchange rate on positive and significant, while the effect of variable interest rate showed on positive significant.

Таможенные органы в силу специфики своей деятельности всегда находились в зоне повышенных коррупционных рисков. В статье определены особенности, причины коррупции в таможенных органах, а также существующая система мер по противодействию коррупции. Однако, несмотря на то что методы борьбы с коррупцией постоянно совершенствуются, проблемы противодействия коррупции остаются актуальными и требуют дальнейшего развития., Customs authorities, due to the specifics of their activities, have always been in the zone of increased corruption risks. The article identifies the features, causes of corruption in customs authorities, as well as the existing system of anti-corruption measures. However, despite the fact that the methods of combating corruption are constantly being improved, the problems of combating corruption remain relevant and require further development

Purpose: Although Pakistan receives large quantity of foreign aid, like other developing countries, but it remains more dependent on foreign assistance for economic development since independence. This situation has commenced a vigorous discussion on aid-growth effectiveness. Methodology: This research work evaluates the macroeconomic impact of foreign aid on Pakistan economy by using secondary data. The empirical analysis is based on ARDL cointegration approach after testing for unit root, using the data for the period 1972-2014. Findings: The findings suggest there is no long run relationship between Foreign aid and Economic Growth. However, there exists negative short run relation between Foreign aid and Economic Growth of Pakistan. Implications: Based on the study findings, the study recommends that government of Pakistan should find alternate sources of financing as the relation between foreign aid and economic growth is found negative and insignificant. The in depth analysis of the study made it evident that allocation of aid to those sectors of the economy which really needs development, is more productive, provided that the country should use aid funds in the right direction, as corruption less economy prosper more rapidly.

The aim of this study is to investigate the influence of corruption on the inflow of foreign direct investment (FDI) in Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan, from 2012 till 2018. The study attempts to answer the question: “What effect does corruption have upon the volume of foreign direct investment inflow to a country?” Using the statistical data from UNCTAD for foreign direct investment and Corruption Perception Index from Transparency International, for a period of 7 years, 2012-2018, we assess the specific influence of corruption on FDI using GDP as the control variable. A regression model was developed to establish the relationship between FDI and Corruption Perception Index. Co-integrating Regression analysis was carried out using relevant econometric techniques. The model is based on a theoretical approach found in relevant economic literature. The paper findings confirm the majority of modern literature and show a negative significant correlation between the variables analyzed, but at a lower intensity than expected.

Corruption is a highly debated issue that harms both the governments of individual countries as well as citizens themselves. Corruption in the public sector can lead to an increase in public spending and a reduction in the amount of taxes levied, thus increasing fiscal deficits and creating macroeconomic instability. Utilizing electronic administration within the public sector has recently been given much attention a key tool for fighting corruption in public administration. E-administration not only makes it possible to provide more information to the population more simply, efficiently, and quickly, but it also helps to eliminate discretion on the part of officials, i.e., the officials’ power to make decisions based on their personal assessment of a situation. This paper focuses on the relationship between a country’s corruption level and the degree of e-government being used in the country. Using graphical interpretation of statistical data and regression analysis, it was found that utilizing e-government within public administration has a positive effect on a country’s corruption level. However, economic performance demonstrated the greatest influence on the corruption level for the given period and group of countries. Korupce je velmi diskutovaným problémem, který poškozuje vlády jednotlivých zemí i samotné občany. Korupce ve veřejném sektoru může vést ke zvýšení veřejných výdajů a snížení výše vybíraných daní, čímž se zvýší fiskální schodky a vytvoří se makroekonomická nestabilita. Klíčovým nástrojem boje proti korupci ve veřejné správě je v poslední době označováno využívání elektronické veřejné správy. Elektronická správa nejen umožňuje poskytovat obyvatelstvu více informací jednodušeji, efektivněji a rychleji, ale také pomáhá eliminovat diskreční pravomoc úředníků, tj. pravomoc rozhodovat na základě jejich osobního posouzení situace. Tento příspěvek se zaměřuje na vztah mezi úrovní korupce v zemi a stupněm využívání elektronické veřejné správy v zemi. Pomocí grafické interpretace statistických dat a regresní analýzy bylo zjištěno, že využití elektronické veřejné správy v rámci veřejné správy má pozitivní vliv na úroveň korupce v zemi. Ekonomická výkonnost však prokázala největší vliv na úroveň korupce za dané období a skupinu zemí.

Kurumlar vergisi, tüzel kişilerden ve sermaye şirketlerinin kurum kazançları üzerinden alınan bir vergidir. Kurumlar vergisinin başlangıcı 1909 yılı olmasına rağmen özellikle Birinci Dünya Savaşı sonrasında bu vergi önem kazanmıştır. Uluslararası Şeffaflık Örgütü, ülkelerin kamu kesiminde algılanan yolsuzluğu 1995 yılından itibaren anketler yardımıyla ölçmekte ve yolsuzluk algılama endeksi olarak yıllık bazda yayınlamaktadır. Endeks ülkelerdeki yoksulluk seviyelerini 2012 yılına kadar 0-10 arasında, 2012 yılı sonrasında ise 0-100 arasında değerlendirmektedir. Ülkelerdeki endeks değerlerinin sıfıra yaklaşması yolsuzluğun arttığı anlamına gelmektedir. Çalışmamızda, Türkiye’nin 1995-2019 yılları arasındaki kurumlar vergisi oranları, kurumlar vergisi gelirleri, kurumlar vergisi gelirlerinin GSYH içindeki payı ile yolsuzluk algılama endeksi arasındaki ilişki, yıllık veriler kullanılarak granger nedensellik analizi yardımıyla analiz edilmiştir. Ülkemizdeki kurumlar vergisi oranları referans yılları içinde değişiklik göstermesi nedeniyle kurumlar vergisi gelirlerinde ve kurumlar vergisi gelirlerinin GSYH içindeki payında değişikliğe neden olmaktadır. Vergi oranlarındaki değişikliğin bu olumsuz etkisini ortadan kaldırmak amacıyla referans yıllardaki vergi oranlarının ortalaması alınarak kurumlar vergisi gelirleri ve gelirlerin GSYH içindeki payı yeniden hesaplanarak analize dahil edilmiştir. Sonuç olarak, değişkenler arasında ilişki olmadığı tespit edilmiştir., A corporate tax is a tax imposed on the net income of legal entities and capital companies. Although the beginning of the corporate tax was in 1909, it gained importance especially after the first world war. The International Transparency Organization has been measuring the perceived corruption in the public sector of countries with the help of surveys since 1995 and publishes it annually as the corruption perception index. The index evaluates poverty levels in countries between 0-10 until 2012 and between 0-100 after 2012. If the index values of the countries approach zero, it means that corruption is increasing. In the study, the rates of corporate tax in Turkey during 1995-2019 period, corporate tax revenues, and the relationship between the share of corporate tax revenues in GDP and the corruption perception index was analyzed by using granger causality analysis. Since the rates of corporate tax in Turkey vary within the reference years, it causes changes in corporate tax revenues and the share of corporate tax revenues in GDP. In order to eliminate this negative effect of the change in tax rates, the average of the tax rates in the reference years was calculated, and according to this rates the corporate tax revenues and the share of corporate tax revenues in GDP were recalculated and included in the analysis. As a result, it has been determined that there is no relationship between the variables.

Transparentnost državnog proračuna smatra se jednom od temeljnih vrijednosti modernog demokratskog društva te se smatra da veća razina transparentnosti ima pozitivne utjecaje na mnoge ekonomske čimbenike. U ovom radu promatrao se utjecaj transparentnosti državnog proračuna na BDP po stanovniku, udio javnog duga u BDP-u te deficit/suficit državnog proračuna na uzorku od 77 država. Korišten je Indeks otvorenosti proračuna (OBI – Open Budget Index) kao jedina međunarodno usporediva mjera za razinu transparentnosti državnog proračuna. Pomoću modela jednostavne linearne regresije, utvrdio se statistički značajan pozitivan utjecaj transparentnosti na BDP po stanovniku te razinu deficita/suficita, dok za razinu javnog duga nije ustanovljena statistički značajna veza. Dodavanjem kontrolnih varijabli Indeksa percepcije korupcije, izlaznosti na parlamentarne izbore, postotka korisnika interneta, stope nezaposlenosti te stope rasta BDP-a u model višestruke linearne regresije, utjecaj transparentnosti je ostao statistički značajan samo za razinu BDP-a po stanovniku. Zaključujemo da je visoka proračunska transparentnost uglavnom odlika visoko razvijenih država s višim BDP-om po stanovniku, dok veća dostupnost proračunskih informacija, iako je pozitivno povezana s manjom razinom deficita proračuna, nema jak utjecaj na politiku upravljanja proračunom. Budget transparency is one of the core values of the modern democratic society and it is considered that increased transparency has positive impact on various economic factors. This paper examines how budget transparency affects GDP per capita, public debt and budget balance on a sample of 77 countries. Open Budget Index (OBI) was used as the only internationally comparable measure of the level of transparency of the government budget. With simple linear regression models, we determined a positive and statistically significant effect of budget transparency on GDP per capita and budget balance, while for public debt statistically significant relationship could not be established. Adding control variables of Corruption perception index, voter turnout, percentage of internet users in a population, rate of unemployment and annual GDP rate of growth in the multiple linear regression models, the effect of budget transparency remained statistically significant only for GDP. We conclude that higher level of budget transparency is generally a characteristic of highly developed countries with higher GDP per capita. Better availability of budget information, although positively related to smaller budget deficit, does not have significant impact on the budget policy.

This manuscript uses a global and comprehensive approach based on 1.14 million observations to investigate whether the effect of perceived corruption can be detected towards safety qualities of vessels. Since safety qualities of vessels are influenced by many factors and the effect of corruption can be confounded by their interactions, a multi-step approach is used at ship level. The findings confirm the hypothesis that port States with higher perceived corruption are less likely to detain vessels and that flag States or ship owners located in countries associated with higher perceived corruption are more likely to have very serious incidents as the operating environment might facilitate substandard shipping and weaker enforcement of international conventions or increased operating costs that can influence safety qualities of vessels in economic hardship. The analysis has also highlighted underreporting of serious incidents. The results support the establishment of accountability frameworks and current efforts at the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to address corruption to support sustainable development goal 16 (SDG 16). Relevant policy implications could be to strengthen the fight against corruption via IMO's Member State Audit Scheme and Facilitation Committee in general and specifically by strengthening training and enforcement of the Code of Good Conduct for Port State Control Inspectors. To enhance transparency, the Global Integrated Ship Information System (GISIS) could be adjusted to include an option to report corruption directly by ship owners and operators to IMO. Mandatory reporting requirements of flag States should be revised to capture all serious incidents to GISIS.

Corruption is notoriously hard to measure directly, and cross-country corruption indices thus often rely on indirect information such as country experts' or international businessmen's perceptions. Transparency International's Corruption Perception Index (CPI) is one such indicator that is often used by policy makers and researchers. The CPI is a composite index that, in its 2019 version, draws on 13 different data sources for calculation, with a threshold of at least three available sources for a country to qualify for a ranking. Until now, however, it has not been clear whether the data sources it uses are the only suitable ones. To assess this, we revisit the choice of these data sources and propose several improvements to the CPI methodology. Specifically, we identify up to five new data sources as potential candidates for inclusion. We examine the effects of including these additional data sources in two simulations: including all five data sources or only the four most suitable ones. Our results are mixed: the inclusion of new data sources would lower the standard errors of the CPI, but we identify a lack of correlation between the CPI and some of the data sources. We conclude by discussing trade-offs involved in including additional data sources in the CPI that may provide lessons for other composite policy indices.

Коррупция ‒ сложное социальное явление, которое является глобальной и трудноразрешимой проблемой в современном обществе и представляет собой серьёзную угрозу для национальной и экономической безопасности государства. Высокий уровень коррупции существенно снижает эффективность работы государственных органов, в том числе и таможенных. Несмотря на принимающиеся в настоящее время в таможенных органах активные меры по профилактике коррупции и работу по противодействию ей, коррупция продолжает видоизменяться, усложняться, интегрироваться в структуру общества. В статье анализируются показатели антикоррупционной деятельности таможенных органов Российской Федерации, раскрываются некоторые причины, ведущие к совершению коррупционных преступлений в таможенных органах, рассматривается понятие индекса восприятия коррупции, проведен анализ рейтинга некоторых стран по данному показателю за 2018-2020 годы, делается вывод о необходимости применения международного опыта противодействия коррупции в указанной сфере., Corruption is a complex, social phenomenon that is a global and intractable problem in modern society and poses a serious threat to the national and economic security of the state. The high level of corruption sign ificantly reduces the efficiency of the work of state bodies, including customs. Despite the active measures currently being taken in the customs authorities to prevent corruption and work to counteract it, corruption continues to change, become more complex, and integrate into the structure of society. The article analyzes the indicators of anti-corruption activities of the customs authorities of the Russian Federation, reveals some of the reasons leading to the commission of corruption crimes in the customs authorities, considers the concept of the corruption perception index, analyzes the rating of some countries on this indicator for 2018-2020, and concludes that it is necessary to apply international experience in combating corruption in this area.

The purpose of this study is to analyze the effect of corruption on the efficiency of institutions. First, the institutional efficiency index was calculated by data envelopment analysis. Through these measures, it was found that institutionally efficient countries are the least corrupt and corruption negatively impacts the efficiency of institutions. Therefore, considering the relevance of institutions for the growth and development of countries, the importance of formulating public policies that fight corruption is emphasized, because in this way, institutions will become more efficient and the countries economically more prosperous. O objetivo desse estudo é analisar o efeito da corrupção sobre a eficiência das instituições. Para tal, inicialmente, calculou-se o índice de eficiência institucional por meio da análise envoltória de dados. Por meio das referidas medidas, verificou-se que os países institucionalmente eficientes são os menos corruptos e a corrupção impacta negativamente a eficiência das instituições. Sendo assim, considerando a relevância das instituições para o crescimento e desenvolvimento dos países, ressalta-se a importância da formulação de políticas públicas que combatam a corrupção, pois, dessa forma, as instituições se tornarão mais eficientes e os países economicamente mais prósperos.

Long-term exposure to haze pollution will not only affect citizens&rsquo, health and shorten their life expectancy, but also cause unpredictable economic losses. In addition, it has become the focus of worldwide concern whether and how institutional quality affects haze pollution. In this study, we explored the impacts of political corruption on haze pollution in 139 global countries. We employed a geographical detector model to identify the driving factors of spatial differentiation in global haze pollution. In addition, corruption degree and per capita gross domestic production (GDP) were used as threshold variables to analyze whether there is a nonlinear relationship between corruption and haze pollution. The main results are as follows. (1) The corruption perception index (CPI) was negatively correlated with haze pollution and had a strong and stable explanatory power for the heterogeneity of haze pollution. Besides, the degree of corruption had a significant triple threshold effect on haze pollution. When the CPI crossed the double threshold value, strengthening institutional quality could inhibit haze pollution. (2) Per capita GDP significantly determined how institutional quality exerted an effect on haze pollution, which was also a key factor affecting spatial heterogeneity of PM2.5 concentration. In high-income countries, choosing a more honest ruling party could substantially reduce haze pollution, while in low-income countries, an incompetent government could increase the degree of haze pollution. (3) The &ldquo, Matthew effect&rdquo, was manifested in our study. It indicated that the higher was the level of economic development, the lower was the severity of haze pollution. Based on these results, we state that policy makers cannot simply alleviate haze pollution through anti-corruption construction. For low-income countries, ensuring economic growth is the prerequisite for the substantial alleviation of haze pollution. On the contrary, high-income countries should pay more attention to the integrity of government institutions and strengthen the awareness of anti-corruption.

Россия испытывает острый дефицит прямых иностранных инвестиций. Практически все иностранные инвестиции, поступающие в российскую экономику - это деоффшоризированные российские капиталы. На формирование инвестиционного климата государства влияет множество факторов, и в случае с российской экономикой преобладают негативные. Об этом свидетельствуют далекие от лидерства позиции России в международных рейтингах, характеризующих страну с точки зрения ее конкурентоспособности, инвестиционной привлекательности и восприятия коррупции в государственном секторе. В исследовании было установлено, что в 2019 г. Россия уступает по индексу IMD World Digital Competitiveness ranking бывшим соседям по постсоветскому пространству, вошедшим в Еврозону, занимая позицию в конце четвертого десятка. По индексу The Global Competitiveness Index по версии Всемирного экономического форума Россия находится в пятом десятке. Но хуже всего оценивается ситуация с восприятием коррупции в государственном секторе, ставя Россию практически на один уровень с беднейшими странами Африки, ниже позиций Молдовы, Египта, Азербайджана и Мексики, а ближайшими соседями в Corruption Perception Index являются Иран, Ирак, Сирия и Венесуэла. Безусловно, влияние санкций, нестабильности национальной валюты, относительно высоких процентных ставок по кредитам, несовершенства законодательной базы и налогового администрирования в совокупности с информационным фактором, передаваемым потенциальным инвесторам посредством различных индексов и рейтингов, формирует негативный инвестиционный климат в России. А невозможность обеспечить стабильный приток прямых иностранных инвестиций в российскую экономику создает угрозу стратегическому развитию страны., Russia is experiencing an acute deficit of foreign direct investment. Virtually all foreign investment coming into the Russian economy is deffloration the Russian capital. The formation of the investment climate of the state is influenced by many factors, and in the case of the Russian economy, negative factors prevail.This is evidenced by Russia's far from leading positions in international ratings that characterize the country interms of its competitiveness, investment attractiveness and perception of corruption in the public sector. Thestudy found that in 2019 Russia is second in the IMD World Digital Competitiveness ranking to its former neighbors in the former Soviet Union, which entered the Euro Zone, taking a position at the end of the fourth ten. According to the world economic forum's the Global Competitiveness Index, Russia is in the fifth ten. But the worst assessment is the perception of corruption in the public sector, putting Russia almost on the same level as thepoorest countries in Africa, below the positions of Moldova, Egypt, Azerbaijan and Mexico, and the closest neighbors in the Corruption Perception Index are Iran, Iraq, Syria and Venezuela. Of course, the impact of sanctions, instability of the national currency, relatively high interest rates on loans, imperfect legal framework and tax administration, together with the information factor transmitted to potential investors through various indices andratings, creates a negative investment climate in Russia. And the inability to ensure a stable inflow of foreign direct investment into the Russian economy poses a threat to the country's strategic development., Экономика и предпринимательство, Выпуск 5 (118) 2020

Беляева Ирина Михайловна – кандидат юридических наук, доцент, заведующий кафедрой уголовного и уголовно-исполнительного права, криминологии, Южно-Уральский государственный университет, г. Челябинск. E-mail: beliaevaim@susu.ru. Кусаинова Айман Кудайбергеновна – кандидат юридических наук, доцент, младший научный сотрудник кафедры уголовного и уголовно-исполнительного права, криминологии, Южно-Уральский государственный университет, г. Челябинск. E-mail: kusainovaak@susu.ru. Нургалиев Бахыт Молдатьяевич – доктор юридических наук, профессор, Центр правовых и экономических исследований, Академия «Болашак», г. Караганда. E-mail: nbake@mail.ru. Irina Mihailovna Belyaeva – Candidate of Sciences (Law), associate, Head Professor of Criminal Law, Criminology and Penal Law Department, South Ural State University, Chelyabinsk, Russian Federation. E-mail: beliaevaim@susu.ru. Ayman Kudaybergenovna Kussainova – Candidate of Sciences (Law), Junior Researcher of the Department of Criminal and Penal Executive Law, Criminology, South Ural state University, Chelyabinsk, Russian Federation. E-mail: kusainovaak@susu.ru. Bakhyt Moldatyaevich Nurgaliyev – Doctor of Sciences (Law), professor of Scientific Center of Legal and Economic Researches, Academy «Bolashak», Karaganda, Kazakhstan. E-mail: nbake@mail.ru. Статья посвящена рассмотрению проблем влияния статистических и рейтинговых показателей на процессы предупреждения коррупционных проявлений. Акцентируется внимание на роли правовой статистики, а также использования рейтинговых оценок в разрезе регионов и госорганов в Казахстане. Анализируется динамика коррупционной активности за последние двадцать лет, а также влияние различных индикаторов и индексов коррумпированности на формирование реальной картины масштабов коррупции в стране. Предлагаются варианты совершенствования мониторинга коррупции и рейтинговых оценок коррупционных проявлений. The article is devoted to the problems of influence of statistical and rating indicators on the processes of preventing corruption. The attention is focused on the role of legal sta-tistics, as well as the use of rating ratings in the context of regions and government agencies in Kazakhstan. The article analyzes the dynamics of corruption activity over the past twenty years, as well as the influence of various indicators and indices of corruption on the formation of a real picture of the scale of corruption in the country. Options for improving the monitoring of corruption and rating assessments of corruption manifestations are offered.

В данной статье рассматривается понятие коррупции в таможенных органах и индекса восприятия коррупции, проведен анализ рейтинга некоторых ведущих демократических стран Европейского союза по данному показателю за 2017-2019 годы, рассмотрен опыт функционирования организационно-правового механизма противодействия коррупции в таможенных органах стран Европейского союза, который ориентирован на комплексное применение правовых, экономических, организационных и воспитательных мер с целью выявления основных зон коррупционных рисков и предупреждения преступлений коррупционной направленности в области таможенного дела, сделан вывод о возможности применения опыта наименее коррумпированных стран Европейского союза при формировании соответствующих мер для ликвидации коррупционных систем в таможенных органах Российской Федерации с учетом индивидуальных социальных, экономических и политических особенностей страны., this article examines the concept of corruption in customs authorities and the corruption perception index, analyzes the rating of some of the leading democratic countries of the European Union for this indicator for 20172019, and examines the experience of functioning of the organizational and legal mechanism for combating corruption in the customs authorities of the European Union, which is focused on the integrated application of legal, economic, organizational and educational measures to identify the main areas of corruption risks and prevent corruption-related crimes in the field of customs, it is concluded that it is possible to apply the experience of the least corrupt countries of the European Union in the formation of appropriate measures to eliminate corruption systems in the customs authorities of the Russian Federation, taking into account individual social, economic and political characteristics of the country.

The increasing level of corruption is one of the most important problems facing transition economies in the process of adopting the free market economy. Studies that emphasize the level of democratization are among the factors that are effective in reducing corruption in recent years. Transition economies seeking to enter the European Union are taking important steps towards democratization. This study examines the change in corruption perception scores of Poland, Croatia, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, Slovenia, before and after accession to the European Union. It is seen that the perception of corruption is relatively lower in transition countries where democratization is high. It is thought that other transition economies will increase their democratization efforts towards membership to the EU and change the perception of corruption.

While corruption is defined by the World Bank as abusing its public power for private interests, it is defined in the United Nations Convention as any misuse of the entrusted authority in such a way as to damage public and private interests. Corruption has been emerged because of lots of social, managerial, economic and political reasons and has become a problem facing every country today. In the studies conducted on the corruption perception index, while the index is found to be related to many variables affecting social and economic structure, there are many different opinions in the literature about the size and direction of the relationship. Indeed, countries' corruption levels differ according to the economic and social structure. In this context, since it is thought that the corruption perception index is closely related to the development levels of the countries, in the study, the effects of various variables, which represents the levels of development, on the corruption perception index are tried to be measured. In the study, to determine the relationship between the corruption perception index and the development indexes, the data for 120 countries are analyzed by separating the countries into three groups as low, middle and high income countries according to the classification made by the World Bank and are analyzed by panel data analysis method including 2007-2016 period. Economic development, governance, level of education, political stability and social capital indexes are considered as variables that are thought to represent countries' socioeconomic development. In the analysis results; we find out that socioeconomic factors which determine community structure have a significant effect on the corruption perception index. Especially the fact that the governance variable is highly economically and statistically significant for all country groups shows that it is the most important variable in policy determination for the prevention of corruption activities.

Corruption is a global phenomenon that can be identified in all countries. Although visible everywhere, corruption usually affects poorer countries, limiting the progress of the national economy and taking away the resources needed for education, health care and other public goods and services. However, the private sector also faces this global problem that jeopardizes corporate identity, distorts trust among business partners, and ruins the reputation of companies. The paper primarily provides a theoretical overview of corruption, with a special emphasis on the role of corruption in achieving macroeconomic stability of a country. Changes in the level of corruption in the Republic of Serbia are being analyzed in comparison with the European Union countries in the period from 2009 to 2016, based on the Corruption Perception Index (CPI). The paper also analyses the impact of corruption on national competitiveness in order to assess the degree of their interdependence. The research in this paper may be useful for policy makers in the context of the future development of anti-corruption policy and strategy.

The article is aimed at analyzing the phenomenon of nepotism. The scientist views on nepotism and its consequences were studied. The problem of nepotism in the current socio-political environment of the State was considered. The real examples of the spread of nepotism in Ukraine and in other countries around the world have been provided. The author has advanced a hypothesis about the negative impact of the development of rural culture and mentality on the development of nepotism and corruption. This hypothesis has been confirmed on the basis of economic and statistical methods. The reasons for the cultural lag between the village and the city have been presented. On the examples from various countries around the world, existence of a statistically significant link between the proportion of rural population and the level of corruption in the country has been proved. The experience of the Soviet Union in preventing the emergence of nepotism in the regions was analyzed. Recommendations have been made to reduce the risk of nepotism among government officials in terms of one region.

Composite indices used in social science research often rely on principal components analysis (PCA) as a way to derive weights for component variables, which emphasizes the largest variations in the variables in a composite index. However, PCA may not work when the informative variations account for only a small share of the variance in the variables; also, the best weighting scheme may also depend on the use of a particular composite index. We consider partial least squares (PLS) as an alternative weighting scheme, which takes advantage of the relationship between outcome variables of interest and the variables in a composite index. In this paper, the Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI), a composite index produced by the OECD, is re-constructed using weights generated by PCA and PLS. Using the revised SIGIs and female education, fertility, child mortality, and corruption as outcome variables, we investigate the relationship between social institutions related to gender inequality and these development outcomes, controlling for relevant other determinants. We find that gender inequality in social institutions has a significant correlation with fertility and corruption regardless of the weighting procedure, while for female education and child mortality only the SIGIs based on PLS show significant results. Additionally, PLS brings benefits in terms of prediction compared to PCA for female education and child mortality. In our analysis of corruption, we consider not only the Corruption Perception Index (CPI) as our measure of corruption, but also create new reweighted CPIs again using PLS and PCA as weighting procedures. The CPI based on PCA shows a significant correlation with gender inequality, while the correlation is only marginally significant when using the PLS.

This paper investigates to what extent media impacts political decisions. A viable practical approach to test the relationship between mass media and political actions is through the use of the World Bank’s Doing Business data, specifically, by assessing local media coverage of Doing Business and implementation of business regulatory reforms. The tested hypothesis is that countries with higher media coverage of Doing Business tend to carry out more business regulatory reforms, assuming one- and two-year lags between media coverage and reform implementation. To achieve this objective, the study put together a comprehensive data set that encompasses country-specific local media coverage of the Doing Business report in 190 economies. The study finds that local media coverage of Doing Business has a significant influence on regulators’ actions. First, the analysis shows that the number of local media articles tends to increase the probability of whether a country does any reform. Second, countries with greater media coverage of Doing Business indicators tend to have higher numbers of implemented reforms.

Corruption is one of the oldest human problems that poses a serious threat to the process of economic growth. Corruption in recent decades has been highlighted in many studies. Some corruption studies were focused on the decline of economic indicators, other studies have shown that corruption can increase economic efficiency. Later studies were performed using statistical analysis. The purpose of this article is to assess the level of corruption in Lithuania, identifying the main factors of the emergence of the shadow economy. Having analysed the level of corruption in Lithuania, it was found that in Lithuania between 1999 and 2016, the corruption perception index reached an average of 4.96 points, therefore, it can be argued that Lithuania faces large corruption problems and is not able to bring down corruption.

Due to different approaches to study security, there are several different indicators and policy recommendations for each of these approaches and they have different economic effects on societies. In this study the economic effects of traditional and new security approaches are studied by using different indicators, including indicators of the fragility of governments, perceived corruption, peace and military expenditure, for 135 countries in the period 2004 to 2014 and 2008 to 2014 by applying panel data method. The results show that factors of government fragility and military expenditure has negative impact on economic growth. The wider the extent of governments fragility, the less economic growth will be seen in those countries. The Relationship between "Corruption Perception Index" and economic growth shows that economic growth is high in the countries with less corruption in government sector. The study of the relationship between "Global Peace Index" and "government fragility index" with the investment in the countries show that global peace index has a positive impact and government fragility index has a negative impact on investment. In general, we can say the indices based on traditional approaches of security don’t have a positive impact on economic growth and, on the opposite side, the indices based on new approaches toward security have positive relation with economic factors, because they are structure-oriented and consider a wide range of factors leading to insecurity.

It is widely believed that increase in money supply increases inflation rates in the long run. Dissenting evidences have later emerged to show that the inflation-money growth link has weakened over time. This study provides a political interpretation of inflation rates dynamics by investigating corruption as a potential risk factor associated with high inflation in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) using panel logit model. All 15 ECOWAS members were selected and studied between 1995 and 2019. Estimates revealed that, in the long run, ECOWAS inflation was significantly determined by past inflation shocks, level of corruption, real GDP and exchange rates; the link between inflation and money supply growth had indeed weakened over time. In particular, results showed that, other things given, a unit increase in the level of corruption increased the risk of high inflation by 82.6%. Results also indicated that seigniorage was not enough to explain the link between inflation and corruption, suggesting that some other channels exist through which corruption affects inflation. In addition, taking 0.5 as the benchmark for forecast probabilities, the logit model reconstructed all the high inflation episodes experienced in ECOWAS in spite of the outlying observations of Liberia and Guinea. The study therefore concludes that other things given, the more corrupt ECOWAS members are, the higher the likelihood to experience high inflation., Nonlinear regression; Transition probability; Corruption perception index; Money supply growth; Seigniorage; Developing countries; Statistics; Pricing; Macroeconomics; Econometrics; Public administration.

The bachelor thesis "The corruption rate in the Czech Republic: Government's political solutions in 2010-2017" deals with anti-corruption policy at the governmental level. The first part pays attention to corruption from a theoretical point of view. The analytical part focuses on the activities of governments in the fight against corruption as well as on the development of Corruption Perception Index (CPI) in the monitored period. During years 2010-2017 there were four governments in the Czech Republic, including two caretaker ones. Jan Fischer's government did not explicitly determine anti-corruption policy objectives, so they acted according to current need. Caretaker government of Jiří Rusnok acted similarly, because in addition this cabinet lost vote of confidence in the Chamber of Deputies. In contrast to it, the government of Petr Nečas called itself "A Coalition of Budgetary Responsibility, the Rule of Law and the Fight against Corruption". Corruption has been one of the main topics of the Coalition Agreement and the Government's Program Statement, on which were based two anti- corruption strategies. Although the government managed to meet only five priority anti- corruption objectives, the following governments, in particular the government of Bohuslav Sobotka, continued to fulfill others...

Цель исследования заключалась в поиске ответа на вопрос: как молодежь из России, Польши и Беларуси воспринимает уровень коррупции в России? Ключевыми методами исследования были опрос и статистический анализ. Опрос был проведен в период с января 2017 года по июль 2018 года. Всего в анкетировании приняли участие 171 респондент 18-30 лет из трех стран. В исследовании, впервые получены четыре новых научных факта: 1. Российская молодежь с 2001 г. воспринимает уровень коррупции в России как растущий. 2. Российская молодежь в 2016 г. и в прогнозе на 2021 г. воспринимает уровень коррупции в России как высокий. 3. Тренд восприятия российской молодежью российской коррупции не совпадает с официальными данными Transparency International о снижении индекса восприятия коррупции в России. 4. Верификация статистических гипотез показала, что пять групп респондентов из России, Польши и Беларуси являются идентичными (с точки зрения распределения). То есть, молодежь из Польши и Беларуси разделяет оценки российской молодежи в отношении уровня российской коррупции. Результат является очень высоко статистически значимым (0.1%)., The aim of the study was to find an answer to the question: how do young people from Russia, Poland and Belarus perceive the level of corruption in Russia? The key research methods were survey and statistical analysis. The survey was conducted between January 2017 and July 2018. A total of 171 respondents aged 18-30 from three countries took part in the survey. In the study, four new scientific facts are obtained for the first time: 1. Russian youth since 2001 perceives the level of corruption in Russia as growing. 2. Russian youth in 2016 and in the forecast for 2021 perceive the level of corruption in Russia as high. 3. The trend in the perception of Russian youth of Russian corruption does not coincide with the official data of Transparency International on the decline of the corruption perception index in Russia. 4. Verification of statistical hypotheses showed that five groups of respondents from Russia, Poland and Belarus are identical (in terms of statistical distribution). That is, youth from Poland and Belarus, shares the assessments of the Russian youth related to the level of corruption in Russia. The result is very high statistically significant (0.1%).

The paper uses the results of the sample survey Eurobarometer, which has been requested by the European Commission. The social climate index is used to measure the level of perceptions of population by taking into account their personal situation and their perspective at national level. The paper makes an analysis of the evolution of social climate indices for the countries of European Union and offers information about the expectations of population of analyzed countries. The obtained results can be compared with the forecasting of Eurobarometer, on short term of one year and medium term of five years. Modelling the social climate index and its influence factors offers useful information about the efficiency of social protection and inclusion policies.

The quality of the institutional environment is considered a crucial determinant of economic growth. Low quality of the formal institutional environment can slow down economic development via various mechanisms described in the literature. The present paper will analyse formal institutional factors leading to the structure of employment that Murphy, Shleifer and Vishny (The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 1991) found to be associated with lower rate of economic growth. They assumed that a high proportion of lawyers in the country may be associated with slower economic development. Thus, the aim of the paper is to examine some of the parameters of institutional environment that can lead to such a distribution. Results show that quality of law measured by the World Bank (Doing Business database) and the Corruption Perception Index obtained from Transparency International may have some explanatory abilities regarding the structure of employment.

Innovative activity in modern conditions promotes the dynamic growth of the national economic system, providing a high level of competitiveness. The article analyzes the main factors influencing the development of innovative activity of the old quarter. Degree of innovation development of the country often determines the degree of economic growth. Development of small innovative enterprises (SIE) in Russia is an actual and important way of ensuring the sustainable growth of the national economy. Analysis of foreign experience of innovative institutions development, carried out in this paper, helps to construct the system of small innovative enterprises in Russia. It was outlined in the paper that main directions of SIEs development will be linked mainly with scientific researches and short-scale production.

Every year several world organizations evaluate countries according different criteria and determine their indexes, such as KOF Index of Globalization, Corruption Perception Index, Global Competitiveness Index, Global Innovation Index, and others. These indexes later are used for analysis of the aspects of entrepreneurship activities in specific countries. One particular application of indexes is related to analysis and evaluation of the business environment of the country. The entrepreneurship is affected by many factors; to research all of them is very time and effort consuming process. The proposed approach (i.e., use of indexes) is targeted and can yield results of the practical significance. The goal of the current paper is to compare indicators of the Baltic countries with average indicators of the European Union by using selected indexes that characterize business environment. To reach this goal we set the following tasks: (1) to characterize theoretical framework of indexes that pertain to the business environment; (2) to perform comparative analysis of selected indicators of business environment of the Baltic countries and the EU according to 4 indexes; (3) to make conclusions about business environment in the Baltic countries, especially in Latvia, on the basis of indexes. The current study employs the logical-constructive method – comparison of theoretical notions with empirical data. The factor analysis allows identifying and comparing factors within chosen indexes. The benchmarking is used to estimate indicators of the Baltic countries and compare them mutually and with the average indicators of the EU – it allows to identify the best examples and calculate the deviation. The graphic method allows depicting information visually and making subsequent analysis.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.eis.0.11.18645

E-government cannot be a panacea for fighting corruption, but per a lot of studies, it should be considered as a tool for reducing corrupt behaviour of officials in the public sector. Easy access to information for all citizens using e-government can result in greater transparency, which limits the public official to accept or even demand a bribe. This paper analyses, role of e-Government in mitigating corruption in 117 countries, regardless of their geographic location, political regime, or economic development between years 2003 and 2014. It was found that the use of information technology and the development of e-government contribute to reducing the level of corruption in the country. Used correlation and regression analysis confirmed the possible reduction of corruption both for the most economically developed countries by 0,12% for one percent increase of the use of e-government, as well as by 0,14% of the least economically developed countries.

Economic theory predicts that a rise in police presence will reduce criminal activity. However several studies in the literature have found mixed results. This study adds to the literature by exploring the relationship between the size of the police force and crime experienced by firms. Using survey data for about 12,000 firms in a cross-section of 27 developing countries, the study finds that increasing the size of the police force is negatively associated with crime experienced by firms. The results are confirmed using a panel of firms for a subset of countries for which data are available. The study also finds that this negative relationship is stronger under certain macro-economic circumstances.

The main objective of this thesis is to test the hypothesis that the most important determinant of economic migration from Eastern EU to the three representative countries of Western part of the EU is particularly income differences. Three regression models are provided in the thesis for Germany, Sweden and Italy. All three models are estimated by the method of fixed effects. In models are used other variables such as difference in unemployment rate, or the difference in the corruption perception and more. Models for Germany and Sweden are estimated on data from the years 2004 to 2013 where the main area of focus is the immigration from the EU8 states. Model for Italy is estimated on data from the years 2007 to 2013. Eight countries in this model are still included, but also Bulgaria and Romania are added. All three models demonstrate the significance of the income differences on the basis of which it confirmed my hypothesis

Bu çalışmanın amacı yolsuzluk algısı, lojistik performans, dış ticaret hacmi ve küresel rekabet arasındaki yapısal ilişkilerin incelenmesidir. Çalışmada uluslararası kurumların hazırladığı güvenilirliği test edilmiş birçok ülke ve kurum tarafından alanlarında kıstas olarak kullanılan ikincil veriler kullanılmıştır. Çalışmanın kapsamı Lojistik Performans, Dış Ticaret Hacmi, Yolsuzluk Algısı, Küresel Rekabet verileri bulunan 92 ülkedir. Endeksler ve çalışmada kullanılan dış ticaret hacmi hakkında daha fazla sayıda ülke verisi bulunmasına karşın ortak verileri olan 92 ülke bulunmuştur. Diğerleri kapsam dışı bırakılmıştır. Endekslerden, Lojistik performans endeksi yaklaşık 150 ülkede uluslararası lojistik şirketlerinde çalışan yaklaşık 1000 profesyonel yöneticiye uygulanan anketler sonucunda elde edilen verilerle belirlenmiş ve 2 yıl arayla dünya bankası tarafından yayınlanan bir endekstir. Küresel rekabet endeksi ise dünya ekonomik forumu tarafından oluşturulan rekabetçilik analizlerini; ülkelerin rekabetçiliğini etkileyen mikro ve makroekonomik kurumları ölçümlemek amacıyla oluşturulan kapsamlı bir araçtır. Endekste kullanılan veriler uluslararası bilinirliğe sahip olan Birleşmiş Milletler, Uluslararası Para Fonu (IMF) ve Dünya Sağlık Örgütü (WHO) gibi kuruluşlardan derlenmektedir. Uluslararası şeffaflık örgütü tarafından yayınlanan yolsuzluk algısı endeksi, işadamları ve ülke analistlerinin araştırmaları kullanılarak yapılan bileşik bir endekstir. Çeşitli örnekleme çerçeveleri ve farklı metodolojileri kullanan güvenilir kaynakları ihtiva etmektedir. Uluslararası dış ticaret verileri ise Dünya Bankası Wits veri tabanından temin edilmiştir. Toplanan veriler SPSS kullanılarak bir araya getirilmiştir. Önerilen yapısal regresyon modelini test etmek amacıyla, yapısal eşitlik modellemesi (YEM) analizi kullanılmıştır. Analiz sonucunda yolsuzluk algısı ile lojistik performans, dış ticaret hacmi ve küresel rekabet arasındaki ilişkilerin istatistiksel olarak anlamlı olduğu bulunmuştur., The aim of this study is to analyze the structural relations between corruption perception, logistics performance, foreign trade volume and global competition. Secondary data that are prepared by international organizations, whose reliability is tested and used as criteria by many countries and organizations. Scope of the study is 92 countries who have logistics performance, foreign trade volume, corruption perception and global competition sources datas. 92 countries has been determined with common datas although there are more countries with indices and foreign trade volume used in the study. Others are excluded from the study. Logistics performance index is an index published by the World Bank once in every two years, whose results have been obtained by surveys to 1000 proffesional executives working at logistics companies in approxiamtely 150 countries. Global competition index is a comprehensive tool built to gauge competitiveness analysis and micro and macro economical organizations who affect competitiveness of the countries. Datas used in the index is compiled from internationally recognized organizations such as United Nations, International Monetary Forum (IMF) and World Health Organization (WHO). Corruption Perception Index published by Transparency International is a composite index made by using researches of businessmen and country analyists. It consists of reliable sources that use various sampling frames and different methodologies. International foreign trade datas are obtained from World Bank Wits database. Obtained datas are gathered together by using SPSS. Inorder to test the suggested structural regression model, structural equation modeling analyise (SEM) is used. As a result of the analyse, relations between corruption perception and logistics performance; as well as between foreign trade volume and global competition are found to be statistically significant.

As a possible tool for reducing opportunities for corrupt behavior of public officials in the public sector, a lot of studies have shown that this could be done through easy access to information for all citizens through the use of e-government. This paper analyzes the potential role of e-Government in reducing corruption by examining the impact of the use of e-Government on the level of corruption in 117 countries in the period 2003-2014. Used correlation and regression confirmed the possible reduction of the level of corruption in a country through the use of e-Government for economically developed countries, but for economically not so developed countries as well. A one percent increase of the use of e-Government led to reduction of the level of corruption by 0,12 % for the most economically developed countries. A one percent increase of the use of e-Government caused corruption reduction by 0,14 % for the least economically developed countries. Thus, in fact cannot be a panacea for fighting corruption in all countries, political regimes and government establishment, whereas, the use of e-Government should be considered as an opportunity to reduce corruption. Mnoho studií prokázalo, že snadný přístup k informacím pro všechny občany prostřednictvím e-Governmentu může sloužit jako nástroj pro snižování příležitosti pro korupční jednání veřejných činitelů ve veřejném sektoru. Tento příspěvek analyzuje potenciální roli e-Governmentu ve snižování korupce tím, že zkoumá dopad využívání e-Governmentu na míru korupce ve 117 zemích v období let 2003-2014. Použitá korelační a regresní analýza potvrdila možné snížení míry korupce v zemi prostřednictvím využití elektronické veřejné správy nejen pro skupinu ekonomicky vyspělých, ale také pro skupinu ekonomicky nerozvinutých zemí. Nárůst využívání e-Governmentu o jedno procento vedl ve sledovaném období ke snížení míry korupce o 0,12 % pro skupinu ekonomicky nejvíce rozvinutých zemí a o 0,14% pro skupinu ekonomicky nejméně rozvinutých zemí. Využívání e-Governmentu není všelékem v oblasti boje proti korupci ve všech zemích, politických režimech či vládních zřízeních, lze jej však považovat za možný nástroj pro její omezování.

In a conditional manner, corruption is considered the specific behavior for the entity thatrepresents the state and public authority of using public resources for personal profits. Internationalinstitutions for corruption evaluation (the World Bank or Transparency International) generallyqualify the phenomenon as“the abuse of public power for private benefit”.Thus, corruption andunderground economy create the condition for the development of group interests, that, thanks to theirinfluence, do not subordinate the national legislation and control the political and economical nationalsystems, giving a perspective on what is known in the professional literature as“state capture”(Hellman & Kaufmann, 2001).

This paper presents the concept of kleptocratic management closely related to corruption. Considered a product of the transition to capitalist economy, modern kleptocratic management is the opposite of democratic management, strategic, aimed at rapid enrichment by any means. By analyzing Corruption Perception Index and Global Corruption Barometer kleptocratic management have highlighted the manifestation of the Romanian economy.

Professional civil service recruitment is a core component of governance for development, as it is necessary for ensuring the capacity of civil servants, service delivery, fiscal sustainability, and proper salary management. Through an ambitious mixed method approach, this study seeks to provide a political economy analysis of civil service recruitment in Comoros—a fragile and decentralized state with a relatively large portion of spending on government salaries. More specifically, it aims to explain the recent dramatic increases in the number of civil servants in Comoros. The paper presents three main findings from the analysis. First, in 2010, elections at the national and local levels were associated with the largest recruitment in the past decade, due in part to the interplay of informal institutions such as political clientelism with the current public financial management system. Second, the institutions involved in recruitment are not permanent; they are evolving with the balance of power between the national and island governments. Third, civil service recruitment respects qualification standards.

One of the most serious problems of fiscal character is the issue of the tax gap. The tax gap is defined as the amount of tax liability faced by taxpayers that is not paid on time. The tax gap comes from three main areas of non-compliance with the tax law – firstly from underreporting of income, secondly from underpayment of taxes and thirdly from non-filling of returns. The tax evasions in the area of value added tax form one of the largest groups of tax gap. This article describes the current situation in the field of tax gap in selected countries of the European Union, namely the VAT gap. The aim of this paper is to determine a dependence of the VAT gap on three variables, the Corruption Perception Index CPI, GDP growth rate and the basic VAT rate. A method of the regression analysis has been used, performed on data in the years 2000-2011. In spite of the fact that it could be assumed that tax burden will affect the VAT gap the most, the highest dependence was shown in the case of the Corruption Perception Index.

Anthropologists studying audit culture focus on the success of rankings, ratings and indicators in constituting or reproducing discourses, a kind of audit juggernaut of power. But in fact, alot of these rankings have no impact at all. The short commentary, part of a group of papers on audit culture, rankings and indicators, compares the Transparency International Corruption Perception Index with the lesser known World Bank Governance Matters index. Anthropologists need to study why some audit discourses have no impact at all.

One of the most serious problems of fiscal character is the issue of the tax gap. The tax gap is defined as the amount of tax liability faced by taxpayers that is not paid on time. The tax gap comes from three main areas of non-compliance with the tax law - firstly from underreporting of income, secondly from underpayment of taxes and thirdly from non-filling of returns. The tax evasions in the area of value added tax form one of the largest groups of tax gap. This article describes the current situation in the field of tax gap in selected countries of the European Union, namely the VAT gap. The aim of this paper is to determine a dependence of the VAT gap on three variables, the Corruption Perception Index CPI, GDP growth rate and the basic VAT rate. A method of the regression analysis has been used, performed on data in the years 2000-2011. In spite of the fact that it could be assumed that tax burden will affect the VAT gap the most, the highest dependence was shown in the case of the Corruption Perception Index.

This masters thesis deals with the phenomena of corruption and its methods of measuring. The objective of this thesis was to fully analyze the problem of corruption, its types, causes and consequences. This work describes organizations that measure corruption and the methods of its measuring. Most of the methods are based on the soft data gained in opinion polls. That is why the aim of this thesis was to link Corruption Perception Index with the truly measurable data as world tax index and size of shadow economy. The main finding of the work is negative correlation between world tax index and CPI and positive correlation between size of shadow economy and CPI.

Anthropologists studying audit culture focus on the success of rankings, ratings and indicators in constituting or reproducing discourses, a kind of audit juggernaut of power. But in fact, alot of these rankings have no impact at all. The short commentary, part of a group of papers on audit culture, rankings and indicators, compares the Transparency International Corruption Perception Index with the lesser known World Bank Governance Matters index. Anthropologists need to study why some audit discourses have no impact at all.