The Changing Face of Corruption in the Asia Pacific Region: Its Discontents, Current Perspectives and Future Challenges (Introduction)

Abstract

This introductory chapter summarises the diversity of perspectives from a group of academicians, practitioners and contributors and their knowledge of, and/or experience of, corruption in the Asia Pacific Region. Hand in hand, the theoreticians inform, while the practitioners enlighten; this complementary group and their collective wisdom demonstrate the ills and ramifications of corruption and how breathtaking it is in its depth. They note the different changes that have occurred in the region from the latter half of the 20th century to the early decades of the 21st century as it emerges an economic powerhouse: the ‘Asian Century’ is here.

Corruption’s costs have not gone away: plus ça change, plus ça meme chose. They have, instead, been modified and appear (and in some cases, persist) in different forms. The names of the people and the organisations involved may have changed, but specialists in the area can still denote the behavioural characteristics that define petty and grand forms of corruption. Our book provides plenty of examples of both. Indeed, this book’s very publication is, perhaps, testament to a current willingness to discuss an issue that is a source of political, economic and sociological angst and that, even only a generation ago, was marked by a clear reluctance to engage in public discussion, especially by those from within institutions.

Keywords: corruption, Asia-Pacific, theories, case studies, regulation, development

JEL Classification: O16, O19, O24, O43, O53, O56, O57, F60, Z13, Z18