Objective or perception-based? A kazakhstani debate on the most ideal corruption measure

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to discuss several institutions in Kazakhstan decided to develop new measures of corruption. In doing so attention will be paid to the fact that empirical analyses had raised some doubts as to whether and to what extent existing measures of corruption provided valid and reliable estimates of corruption levels in Kazakhstan. After exploring some explanations as to why international measures failed to provide a proper assessment of corruption in the country, the paper argues that local institutions decided to develop new measures with the hope that could generate better estimates of corruption level across region, across sector and over time.