Texts: Lab Ch 8 – Corruption and Development
Take a look at Transparency International’s most recent global map of Corruption Perceptions Index, found here: https://www.transparency.org/cpi.
Now, compare that map to the World Bank’s most recent World Development Indicators found here: https://data.worldbank.org/indicator.
Are the most corrupt countries also the least developed? In particular, compare the United States with South Sudan. How do the two compare in each of the following areas? (Use the Quick Search box on the World Bank site to make using that page much faster.) Note that sometimes, available data will be from different years. It is unlikely that either country has seen huge changes in their numbers in these categories since the most recent available data, but you do want to keep the dates in mind as you compare.
USA (.15 points each)
- Corruption perceptions index score out of 100. (Lower is more corrupt.)
- GDP per capita growth (annual %)
- Poverty headcount ratio at $1.90 a day (2011 PPP)
- Maternal mortality ratio (modeled estimate, per 100,000 live births)
- Renewable energy consumption (% of total final energy consumption)
- Secure Internet servers (per 1 million people)
- Education: Primary completion rate, total (% of relevant age group)
South Sudan (.15 points each)
- Corruption perceptions index score out of 100. (Lower is more corrupt.)
- GDP per capita growth (annual %)
- Poverty headcount ratio at $1.90 a day (2011 PPP)
- Maternal mortality ratio (modeled estimate, per 100,000 live births)
- Renewable energy consumption (% of total final energy consumption)
- Secure Internet servers (per 1 million people)
- Education: Primary completion rate, total (% of relevant age group)
(0.9 points) What do these comparisons suggest about the relationship between corruption and development?
(1 point) Are your findings here consistent with the theory presented by Taylor and Lybbert? Explain.