Regulatory bottlenecks, transaction costs and corruption: A cross-country investigation

This paper uses recent data on a large cross-section of countries to study the determinants of corrupt activity. The main contribution is to examine the effects of different types and severities of government regulations on corrupt activities. The results show that greater prosperity and democracy lead to less corrupt activity. Variables representing the degree of fractionalization across three dimensions and least developed nations are statistically insignificant. Having more regulation, including number of procedures and time involved across four categories (business startup, licensing, property registration, and taxation), leads to greater corruption. More regulatory procedures, especially for business startups and property registrations, have the most corruption-enhancing effect. Whereas lengthier procedures also generally spur corruption, there are important differences. Finally, higher regulatory transactions costs do not seem to significantly impact corruption. Policy implications are discussed.corruption; business startup; licenses; property; taxes; fractionalization; democracy; prosperity

Financial settlement modes and corruption: Evidence from developed nations

Using recent pooled data from several developed nations, the paper uniquely examines whether the composition of payment instruments has a bearing on the prevalence of corruption in a country. Our results suggest that the choice of instruments matters. Paper credit transfer transactions are consistently associated with corrupt activities, while credit card transactions tend to reduce them. Cheques generally increase corruption, the results with respect to nonpaper credit transfers are mixed, while direct debits fail to show significant effects on corruption. These findings hold for alternative corruption measures and when allowance is made for endogeneity of payment instruments.corruption; cheques; credit card; cash; direct debit; payment instruments

Composition of Exports and Cross-Country Corruption

This research examines the connection between a country’s export structure and corruption, incorporating disaggregated data on exports for a recent time period over a large set of nations. We ask whether various types of exports (e.g. agricultural, mineral, manufacturing and fuel) exert similar influences on corruption across nations. Our results suggest that corruption decreases as nations attain prosperity, as economic and political freedoms increase, and with a larger government size. Ceteris paribus, transition countries are also found to be more corrupt. Ethnic and linguistic fractionalizations exert opposite influences on corruption, while religious fractionalization does not seem to matter. Although the effects of ore and manufacturing exports are statistically insignificant, agricultural and fuel exports affect corruption significantly. Our findings for fuel exports support previous research, as well as uniquely demonstrate that the impact of fuel exports is sensitive to the prevailing corruption level. We conclude with a discussion of policy implications.corruption; exports; resource curse; government

Non-coding RNAs in the brain: new class of prospective biomarkers and therapeutics

The human genome encrypts around 20,000 protein coding genes, constituting around 1% of the total human genome sequence. The rest of it initially labeled as a “junk DNA” is transcribed to a distinct class of non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) which do not code for any protein in the cell and their presence was quite intriguing to the researchers. The recent studies, however, have surprisingly revealed the vital roles of these ncRNAs in regulating an array of diverse cellular and biological processes in different organs including brain. The dysfunction of these regulatory ncRNAs in human brain causes certain neurological disorders and brain tumors which earlier have been widely linked to various risk factors such as oxidative stress, genetic mutations, aberrant protein degradation and dysfunctional neural network.  This review provides an    overview of different types of ncRNAs, their regulatory roles in brain functions and neurological disorders along with their   prospects to be used as potential biomarkers and therapeutics.

2-Deoxy-d-glucose: from diagnostics to therapeutics

Glucose is the most common source of cellular energy and a substrate for many biochemical processes. Abnormal glucose signalling has been found in many diseases including cancers and inflammatory diseases. A glucose analog, 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2DG) which interferes with the cellular glucose metabolism has shown promising results both as a diagnostic and therapeutic agent in certain diseased conditions such as cancer, cardiovascular diseases, Alzheimer disease, etc. Viral-infected cells have also been found to increase their glucose uptake and recently Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) has given approval for the therapeutic use of 2DG in managing severe acute respiratory syndrome corona virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection which has received worldwide attention and has been declared a public health emergency of global concern. An attempt has accordingly been made in this article to review the diagnostic and therapeutic potentials of 2-deoxy-glucose with special emphasis on to its implications in SARS-CoV-2

Causes of Corruption:History, Geography, and Government

Corruption, which remains a serious problem in many countries, has prompted considerable research in recent years. This paper adds to the extant literature with insights on factors influencing corrupt activity. Using cross-country data for about 100 nations, the roles of national history, geography, and government are examined to see how they affect conditions for corruption, both qualitatively and quantitatively. The innovative aspects of this research include use of a wide set of historical, geographical, and governmental determinants of corruption, as well as detailed assessment of several previously considered determinants. The main issues addressed are the effects of the size and scope of government on the incidence of corruption across countries, and the significance of historical and geographic factors in corruption. Regarding the first question, the authors find the size and scope of government can significantly affect corruption. On the second, it is shown that historical institutional inertia in older countries and new rent-seeking opportunities in younger nations can encourage corruption, while certain geographic factors can mitigate corruption. The paper ends with discussion aimed at the policymaker.corruption; bribery; government size; government scope; rent-seeking; history; geography

Causes of Corruption in Russia: A Disaggregated Analysis

This paper examines determinants of corruption across Russian regions. Key contributions include: (i) a formal study of economic corruption determinants across Russian regions; (ii) comparisons of determinants of perceived corruption versus those of actual corruption; and (iii) studying the influence of market competition and other factors on corruption. The results show that economic prosperity, population, market competition and urbanization are significant determinants of Russian corruption. The use of alternative corruption measures reveals that economic prosperity and population have a largely similar impact on corruption perceptions and corruption incidence. However, there are significant differences in the effects of competition and urbanization.corruption perceptions; corruption incidence; Russia; government; competition

Causes of Corruption in Russia: A Disaggregated Analysis

This paper examines determinants of corruption across Russian regions. Key contributions include: (i) a formal study of economic corruption determinants across Russian regions; (ii) comparisons of determinants of perceived corruption versus those of actual corruption; and (iii) studying the influence of market competition and other factors on corruption. The results show that economic prosperity, population, market competition and urbanization are significant determinants of Russian corruption. The use of alternative corruption measures reveals that economic prosperity and population have a largely similar impact on corruption perceptions and corruption incidence. However, there are significant differences in the effects of competition and urbanization.corruption perceptions, corruption incidence, Russia, government, competition

Role of Process Alignment and End User Participation in Successful Implementation of E-Government Programs: Perspective of Different Stakeholders

In recent years, a number of developing countries have launched e-government programs, and several development agencies and governments have identified e-government implementation as a key policy priority. Driven by the success of a few projects in improving delivery of services to citizens and businesses, an increasing number of governments are making ICT investments in the public sector. Alignment of departmental processes in government and active participation of employee of government departments as well of participation and cooperation of government department’s users play vital role of success in such programs. Therefore, the major objective of the paper is to understand the role of process alignment and end user participation in success of e-government programs from the important stakeholders perspective; leaders, government departments as users, nodal IT agencies, and IT vendor organization. The research findings are based on survey carried out with 152 stakeholders in all categories through a questionnaire targeted in northern states in India