Analyzing the relationship between perceived grand corruption and petty corruption in developing countries: case study of Iran
| Date | 01 December 2012 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0020852312455991 |
| Published date | 01 December 2012 |
| Author | Behzad Mashali |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
International Review of
Administrative Sciences
78(4) 775–787
!The Author(s) 2012
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DOI: 10.1177/0020852312455991
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International
Review of
Administrative
Sciences
Article
Analyzing the relationship
between perceived grand
corruption and petty corruption
in developing countries: case study
of Iran
Behzad Mashali
University of Science and Culture, Teheran, Iran
Abstract
Corruption often spreads because of ignorance and lack of adequate knowledge about
the subject as well as how to correct and contain it. On the other side, corrupt legal,
political, bureaucratic, and other social system(s) help corruption swell further. The
current article sets out to discuss the question: Is there is a relation between perceived
grand corruption and petty corruption? In Iran, too, these two types of corruption have
recently become debatable issues. And as in Iran, corruption has become the most
challenging issue in many developing countries. With respect to the above relationship,
while the theoretical literature makes ambiguous predictions, empiricists, too, have
focused little on this subject. The present article tries to examine this issue systemat-
ically and, hence, suggests that the perceived grand corruption is significantly associated
with the petty corruption. Similar results persist even when grand corruption originates
in a country’s legal system. In a nutshell, the article identifies a positive correlation
between perceived grand corruption and petty corruption.
Keywords
corruption, grand corruption, perceived grand corruption, petty corruption
Introduction
One of the most famous Iranian poets, Saadi, writes in his book Gulistan: ‘if a king
takes and carries away an apple of someone, his soldiers will root out the apple
trees’. Borrowing from this statement, it can be said that if citizens perceive their
statesmen to be corrupt (perceived grand corruption), they would certainly become
corrupt (petty corruption).
Corresponding author:
Behzad Mashali, University of Science and Culture, Bahar Alley Park Avenue, Asharafi-e Esfahni Boulevard,
Tehran
Email: behmashali@gmail.com
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