Understanding the micro-foundations of administrative corruption in the public sector: Findings from a systematic literature review

Abstract

Public sector corruption is one of the most pressing unresolved issues of our time. Based on the Theory of Planned Behavior, this study examines the psychological and contextual mechanisms that allow individuals to rationalize their engagement in administrative corruption. By conducting a systematic literature review of 93 studies, 241 cases of empirical evidence on the relationships between micro, meso, and macro-level factors are synthesized to reveal seven dimensions, which affect civil servants' corruptibility. Mapping the status quo of the discourse, this study reveals that moral justification for administrative corruption is the outcome of a multi-layered and dynamic process of social cognition based on various processes of rationalization beyond greed: accountability conflicts, social obligations, and culturally reinforced norms (mis-)guide behavior in the context of socially varying psychological reference points of accountability and legitimacy that lead to essential value conflicts between self-serving behavior and integrity.