Understanding corruption is at the heart of treating the dysfunctionality of many countries’ public sectors. Yet, most … corruption research suffers from one common problem: There is no “objective” measure of public-sector corruption for a cross …-section of countries. Most studies on the determinants or the effects of corruption rely on indicators of corruption perception …

standard "cheating" experiment into a broad household survey and find clear support for this prediction: respondents who … perceive corruption in state affairs are more likely to cheat. Interestingly, there is a small group of non-conformers. The … others at the cheating experiment, thus stimulating the reputational concern to be seen as honest, reduces cheating. Again …