The BridgeGap Working Paper Series showcases cutting-edge research that bridges critical gaps in our understanding of corruption, its regulation, and the real-world impact of anti-corruption policies. Our latest publication, Working Paper 26-01, “From Case Counts to Monetary Flows: Introducing a Dataset of Bribe Volumes in Cross-Border Corruption Cases” by Felix Alshut, introduces a new dataset that moves corruption measurement beyond case counts and perception-based indices.
Popular corruption measurements currently do not capture the volume of flows related to bribery, relying instead on perception- or experience-based surveys, frequencies, or case counts. This paper addresses that gap by manually collecting information on cross-border bribe volumes that firms paid (or are suspected to have paid) to foreign public officials, extending an existing dataset of cross-border corruption cases by Escresa & Picci (2017).
The final extended dataset covers 1,285 transactions involving bribe volumes of about USD 23 billion in total, distributed across 77 source countries (where firm headquarters are located) and 165 foreign countries (where public officials are located). 402 of the transactions had unknown bribe volumes, which were imputed based on other case characteristics following a newly-developed imputation methodology.
This dataset enables future research to assess the monetary size of cross-border corruption flows much more granularly than case-frequency approaches allow, and could help refocus regulatory and investigative priorities on the industries or country pairs with the highest bribe volumes.
The BridgeGap Working Paper Series provides a platform for the early dissemination of research findings, fostering discussion among colleagues both within and outside the project. Managed by Utrecht University, each paper undergoes a review process conducted by researchers from the BridgeGap consortium.
We welcome comments and suggestions on the series. Please direct all correspondence to the series editor, Joras Ferwerda, Associate Professor at the Utrecht University School of Economics.