Abstract
This chapter reports on the key findings of an ongoing empirical research programme organized by the Corruption Research Centre of the Institute for Sociology and Social Policy at Corvinus University of Budapest.1 The general goal of the research is to make a contribution to the in-depth exploration, better understanding and explanation of different corruption transactions in Hungary. To achieve this aim, we focused on studying actual corruption situations and mechanisms rather than investigating perceptions about corruption or surveying opinions about corruption. We believe that both the interviews and media content analysis on corruption cases that were undertaken give us the potential to identify typical corruption situations, typical players in corruption games and their typical types of motivation.2 During the research, our attention turned to the local government as a pivotal level to be investigated. In this chapter we offer a detailed analysis in order to establish a general picture of the sophisticated structure and actual penetration of different local government corruption mechanisms. We do believe that a profound knowledge of actual corruption situation and mechanism types is an essential prerequisite for creating solid anticorruption measures (for example, changing regulations or the institutional environment) both at the national and at the local level.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsPreview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Alexa, N., R. Bárdos, Z. Szanto and I. J. Tóth (2008) Corruption Risks in the Business Sector. National Integrity System Country Study (Part Two) Transparency International (Budapest: Nyitott Könyvmuhely).
Gulyas, G. (2004) ‘A politikai korrupciorol’ (About Political Corruption) in G. Gulyas (ed.) Politikai korrupcio (Political Corruption) (Budapest: Aula, pp. 7–43).
Lambsdorff, J. G. (2007) The Institutional Economics of Corruption and Reform: Theory, Evidence and Policy (Cambridge: CUP).
Rose-Ackerman, S. (1978) Corruption: A Study in Political Economy (New York: Academic Press).
Szántó, Z. (1997) Megbízó, megbízottak és kliensek: Vázlat a korrupció fogalmáról (Principals, Agents and Clients. An Outline on the Concept of Corruption) Szociológiai Szemle, 4, 109–14.
Szántó, Z., I. J. Toth (eds) (2008) Korrupcios kockázatok az üzleti szektorban: Kutatási háttértanulmányok (Corruption Risks in the Business Sector: Research Background Studies) (Budapest: BCE — Korrupciókutató Központ).
Szente, Z. (ed.) (2007) Korrupcios jelenségek az önkormányzati közigazgatásban (Corruption Mechanisms in Local Government Administration) (Budapest: Közigazgtási Intézet).
Toth, I. J. (2000) A korrupcio néhány tényezóje az átalakuló gazdaságokban (Some Corruption Factors in Transition Economies) manuscript, http://econ.core.hu/~tothij.
Editor information
Copyright information
© 2010 Zoltán Szántó, István János Tóth and Tünde Cserpes
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Szántó, Z., Tóth, I.J., Cserpes, T. (2010). Local Government Corruption in Hungary. In: Dallago, B., Guglielmetti, C. (eds) Local Economies and Global Competitiveness. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230294967_7
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230294967_7
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-32236-7
Online ISBN: 978-0-230-29496-7
eBook Packages: Palgrave Economics & Finance CollectionEconomics and Finance (R0)