The Phenomenon of Corruption As a Type of Anti-Competitive Conduct Model

Abstract

The article examines the origin of corruption as a social and economic phenomenon that is persistent in society. The purpose of the study is to identify the causes of corruption and the economic factors that influence it. It is revealed that corruption existed in all epochs of human society and in all countries of the world, regardless of their level of economic development and political structure. It is concluded that corruption, as a common phenomenon, comes from the usual human desire to obtain privileges in society, but with the use of illegal methods. It is revealed that in addition to cases of corruption, the desire to obtain a privileged position is also observed in cases where economic entities use an anti-competitive model of conduct in relations with other market participants. This led to a conclusion about the mutually overwhelming influence of competition and corruption on each other — the more competition is developed in a country, the lower the level of corruption in it. In this paper, using econometric methods, a correlation analysis of the relationship between competition and corruption in 140 countries of the world is carried out. The results obtained suggest that increasing the level of competition in the economy will reduce the scale of corruption in the country.