Corruption, development and inequality : soft touch or hard graft?
- London Routledge 1989
- 191 p.
There is a vigorous debate in development studies circles as to whether corruption in all cases is detrimental to the interests of the poor or whether, in some cases, corruption might actually facilitate development. Many people argue, sensibly, that the informal sector' has positive repercussions upon housing and employment for the urban poor; but there is more disagreement about corruption and the black economy. This book explores this debate and presents much new evidence and new thinking connected with the topic. It considers corruption in a wide range of international examples, thereby demonstrating its extent, its many different manifestations, the roles it fulfils and its consequences, which, the book argues, are in most cases decidedly adverse.