Examining the Causes of Systemic Corruption: The Case of Kazakhstan

Abstract

In this theory-based article, the author examines how the cultural and anthropological or ethnocentric theory of corruption by Van Roy (1970) explains the emergence of systemic corruption in the Republic of Kazakhstan. Research findings are based on the secondary data analysis, which allows establishing theoretical connections among the economic transition, the culture and the systemic corruption in Kazakhstan. Following the Van Roy’s theory, the author determines that the emergence of systemic corruption was incentivized by cultural factors such as the transformation of the society and the corresponding value shift, and by the ethnocentric factors such as the parochial traditions of the country. The author analyzes the influence of the economic transition programs, known as the “shock therapy,” on the impoverishment of citizens, the high level of the acceptance of corruption and the effects of clan culture in Kazakhstan from 1991 until modern days. The author determines that the above factors were present in the country during the economic overhaul of 1991, and logically establishes the relationships between these factors and the systemic corruption. The author argues that culture matters in the process of economic and social development, and that the economists, who typically pay little attention to culture variables, should integrate these variables in their models of economic development. As experience of economic transition in Kazakhstan shows, culture may enhance or impede the success of economic transformation. The experience of Kazakhstan can be extrapolated to other countries in transition.