Corruption and Human Development: A Conceptual Discussion

Abstract

This paper is concerned with how the corruption and development debate changes if the focus shifts to notions of "human" development. There are many senses of corruption, but the literature has focused on the public office conception and consequentialist evaluation. While it looks as if corruption clearly does not promote human development, the case needs to be made carefully, since arguments can be made to the effect that corruption can promote human development. The discussion highlights the limits of consequentialist evaluation and helps us to think about the policy implications of various conceptions of human development. Finally, while the diversity of norms and the possibility of Western bias do not undermine either anti-corruption or human development agendas, they do set limits on the extent to which specific moral norms can be embodied in conceptions of human development.