Corruption and country size Insights from small state studies

Abstract

An elaborate body of academic debate deals with public sector corruption as a detrimental social problem. Considerable attention has been paid to the contextual factors of corruption and the role of wider societal norms and institutions in enhancing or deterring corrupt practices. However, there is only a limited amount of knowledge available on one factor – the size of countries. Are small or large countries more prone to corruption? There are a few studies that aim to clarify this issue, but the findings are contradictory. The aim of the article is to turn to a stream of social science research specifically interested in country size – small state studies – and to explore the relevance of this knowledge for understanding public sector corruption. The analysis shows that country size is a significant contextual characteristic that affects economic, political and socio-cultural factors of corruption. The article raises the need for further studies into causal mechanisms of size by including more small states into international comparative research, turning attention to qualitative comparative studies, and taking a closer look at the link between socio-cultural factors of corruption and country size.