Measuring corruption: whose perceptions should we rely on? Evidence from Iceland"
The extent of corruption in Iceland is highly contested. International corruption measures indicate a relatively small amount of corruption while domestic public opinion suggest a serious corruption problem. Thus, uncertainty prevails about the actual extent of corruption and whose perceptions to re...
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University of Iceland
2016
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.13177/irpa.a.2016.12.2.2 https://doaj.org/article/4dbaad6751214e3ea7e2e1145e491260 |
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:4dbaad6751214e3ea7e2e1145e491260 2023-05-15T16:46:04+02:00 Measuring corruption: whose perceptions should we rely on? Evidence from Iceland" Gissur Ólafur Erlingsson Gunnar Helgi Kristinsson 2016-12-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.13177/irpa.a.2016.12.2.2 https://doaj.org/article/4dbaad6751214e3ea7e2e1145e491260 EN IS eng ice University of Iceland http://www.irpa.is/article/view/2483 https://doaj.org/toc/1670-6803 https://doaj.org/toc/1670-679X 1670-6803 1670-679X doi:10.13177/irpa.a.2016.12.2.2 https://doaj.org/article/4dbaad6751214e3ea7e2e1145e491260 Stjórnmál og Stjórnsýsla, Vol 12, Iss 2, Pp 215-236 (2016) Corruption corruption perceptions Corruption Perception Index unbiased learning perception bias Iceland Political institutions and public administration (General) JF20-2112 Political science (General) JA1-92 article 2016 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.13177/irpa.a.2016.12.2.2 2022-12-30T22:01:40Z The extent of corruption in Iceland is highly contested. International corruption measures indicate a relatively small amount of corruption while domestic public opinion suggest a serious corruption problem. Thus, uncertainty prevails about the actual extent of corruption and whose perceptions to rely on. This problem is relevant for corruption research in general. Perceptions are increasingly used as proxies for the actual levels of corruption in comparative research. But we still do not know enough about the accuracy of these proxies or the criteria they must meet in order to give dependable results. In fact, radical differences exist concerning evaluations of perceptions between those who believe in unbiased learning and those believing perceptual bias to be widespread. The purpose of this article is, therefore, to attempt to gauge which factors may influence how perceptions of corruption are shaped and why differences in corruption perceptions between different groups may be so pronounced. We present findings from original survey data from three parallel surveys – among the "public", experts, and "municipal practitioners" – conducted in Iceland in 2014. Expectations based on the perceptual bias approach are tested, indicating that perceptions may be affected by (1) information factors, (2) direct experience of corruption and (3) emotive factors. The validity of perception measures should be considered with this in mind. Domestic experts are likely to be well informed and avoid perceptual bias to a greater extent than other groups. Our examination of the Icelandic case suggests that the Corruption Perception Index (CPI) tends to underestimate corruption problems in "mature welfare states", such as Iceland, whilst the general public tends to overestimate it. Article in Journal/Newspaper Iceland Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Veftímaritið Stjórnmál og stjórnsýsla 12 2 215 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English Icelandic |
topic |
Corruption corruption perceptions Corruption Perception Index unbiased learning perception bias Iceland Political institutions and public administration (General) JF20-2112 Political science (General) JA1-92 |
spellingShingle |
Corruption corruption perceptions Corruption Perception Index unbiased learning perception bias Iceland Political institutions and public administration (General) JF20-2112 Political science (General) JA1-92 Gissur Ólafur Erlingsson Gunnar Helgi Kristinsson Measuring corruption: whose perceptions should we rely on? Evidence from Iceland" |
topic_facet |
Corruption corruption perceptions Corruption Perception Index unbiased learning perception bias Iceland Political institutions and public administration (General) JF20-2112 Political science (General) JA1-92 |
description |
The extent of corruption in Iceland is highly contested. International corruption measures indicate a relatively small amount of corruption while domestic public opinion suggest a serious corruption problem. Thus, uncertainty prevails about the actual extent of corruption and whose perceptions to rely on. This problem is relevant for corruption research in general. Perceptions are increasingly used as proxies for the actual levels of corruption in comparative research. But we still do not know enough about the accuracy of these proxies or the criteria they must meet in order to give dependable results. In fact, radical differences exist concerning evaluations of perceptions between those who believe in unbiased learning and those believing perceptual bias to be widespread. The purpose of this article is, therefore, to attempt to gauge which factors may influence how perceptions of corruption are shaped and why differences in corruption perceptions between different groups may be so pronounced. We present findings from original survey data from three parallel surveys – among the "public", experts, and "municipal practitioners" – conducted in Iceland in 2014. Expectations based on the perceptual bias approach are tested, indicating that perceptions may be affected by (1) information factors, (2) direct experience of corruption and (3) emotive factors. The validity of perception measures should be considered with this in mind. Domestic experts are likely to be well informed and avoid perceptual bias to a greater extent than other groups. Our examination of the Icelandic case suggests that the Corruption Perception Index (CPI) tends to underestimate corruption problems in "mature welfare states", such as Iceland, whilst the general public tends to overestimate it. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Gissur Ólafur Erlingsson Gunnar Helgi Kristinsson |
author_facet |
Gissur Ólafur Erlingsson Gunnar Helgi Kristinsson |
author_sort |
Gissur Ólafur Erlingsson |
title |
Measuring corruption: whose perceptions should we rely on? Evidence from Iceland" |
title_short |
Measuring corruption: whose perceptions should we rely on? Evidence from Iceland" |
title_full |
Measuring corruption: whose perceptions should we rely on? Evidence from Iceland" |
title_fullStr |
Measuring corruption: whose perceptions should we rely on? Evidence from Iceland" |
title_full_unstemmed |
Measuring corruption: whose perceptions should we rely on? Evidence from Iceland" |
title_sort |
measuring corruption: whose perceptions should we rely on? evidence from iceland" |
publisher |
University of Iceland |
publishDate |
2016 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.13177/irpa.a.2016.12.2.2 https://doaj.org/article/4dbaad6751214e3ea7e2e1145e491260 |
genre |
Iceland |
genre_facet |
Iceland |
op_source |
Stjórnmál og Stjórnsýsla, Vol 12, Iss 2, Pp 215-236 (2016) |
op_relation |
http://www.irpa.is/article/view/2483 https://doaj.org/toc/1670-6803 https://doaj.org/toc/1670-679X 1670-6803 1670-679X doi:10.13177/irpa.a.2016.12.2.2 https://doaj.org/article/4dbaad6751214e3ea7e2e1145e491260 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.13177/irpa.a.2016.12.2.2 |
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Veftímaritið Stjórnmál og stjórnsýsla |
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