DETERMINANTS OF CORRUPTION IN EAST AFRICAN COMMUNITY STATES

Abstract

The East African Community states present high levels of corruption. Corruption is a daunting
hindrance to sustainable development, education, health care and poverty reduction. It is a great
impediment to the Sustainable Development Goals and is one of the main factors that has
prevented poor and developing countries from catching up with the developed ones. In the effort
to curb the vice, there has been unending debate and there is no consensus on the true determinants
of corruption. According to the World Bank although corruption is an international issue affecting
all countries of the world at different degrees, the determinants of corruption are not the same in
all countries.This necessitated a study to establish the determinants of corruption. The specific
objective of this study was to establish the determinants of corruption in the East African
community states. The study employed non-experimental research design using extended Becker
theory of crime. The study employed system generalized methods of Moments estimation technique
to establish the determinants of corruption. The findings revealed that economic growth is one of
the important determinants of corruption. The other determinants include government
effectiveness, rule of law and human capital.
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