Corruption in Transitional China: An Empirical Analysis

Abstract Based on an evaluation of three methods adopted by current empirical analysis of corruption, this article argues for a statistical analysis method of studying corruption cases. It adopts three new indicators: the latency period of corruption, the number of newly occurring corruption cases and the cumulative number of cases. By applying these indicators to an analysis of 594 major corruption cases, the article develops a new method to describe the position of corruption in transitional China, and presents new evidence on characteristics and trends of corruption and its relation with China's economic transition.