num_pages: 361
description: In the context of the growing political and academic attention given to the MENA region in the aftermath of the Arab Uprisings, this book seeks to explore a key dimension of such political upheavals: corruption. There is a general consensus that grand and petty corruption are widespread among countries in the region, and corruption has been a key driver behind the Arab Spring. Against this backdrop, this book seeks to fill the academic gap in corruption studies in the MENA region by looking at the root causes of corruption in fifteen Arab countries. The number of studies on the nature and extent of corruption in MENA countries is limited due to the lack of reliable data on corruption-related issues within these countries, as well as widespread restrictions on accessing corruption-related information.Contributing to the literature on corruption in MENA countries, this book addresses the causes of corruption in the region through a systematic cross-national comparative analysis. In particular, fifteen countries are analyzed in detail using the structured focused comparative method and the Most Similar Systems Design in order to better comprehend the distinctive causes of corruption in these countries, and also to explain the causal relationship between corruption and differences in political and socio-economic dimensions within these countries over a timeframe of 1999–2010. The countries are divided into three sub-regions (Gulf region, North Africa, and Mashreq plus Yemen) to enable focused analysis and comparison within these groups.The book concludes that the main variables that showed robustness in impacting the intensity of corruption among all the cases are the rule of law, quality of regulation, and trade openness. Poverty rates and income inequality have been clear triggers for petty corruption to flourish in many cases. However, natural resource endowments have shown less impact on the levels of corruption in the countries analyzed. While women’s empowerment has not been found to be a strong indicator, discrimination in general against women, minorities, religious sects, indigenous groups, immigrants, non-nationals, opposition parties, and other groups has revealed a clear absence of social equality among those populations where favoritism and polarization have taken place. The book further concludes that the relationship between literacy rates and corruption is negligible, but that there is a negative causal relationship between the quality of education and corruption. Finally, there is also a negative correlation between human development and corruption.
language: English
title: Corruption in the MENA Region: Beyond Uprisings
publisher: Palgrave Macmillan