An Empirical Study on the Effect of National Culture on the Perception of Corruption in the Public Sector

Abstract

It has been revealed a number of times across nations in the world that the continued failure of most countries to significantly control corruption has contributed to a crisis in democracy. Baring exceptions, empirical evidences revealed that in spite of some progress, most countries have been failing to curb corruption significantly. Corruption is a perceived aspect. An event can be viewed as a severe corruption in some nations while as not that serious in some other nations. The key determinant for such perception is culture. Acts of Corruption is viewed through the cultural filter and thus appears to be severe in some nations and mild in others depending on the filter. This study envisages assessing the effect of national culture, represented by Hofstede’s six dimensions of national culture on the perception of corruption in the public sector represented by the Corruption Perception Index published annually by Transparency International. Multivariate linear regression technique has been applied in the study. The findings of the study revealed that four of Hofstede’s six dimensions of national culture i.e. power-distance, individualism, long term orientation and restraint, had statistically significant effect on perception of corruption in the public sector.