BOYD, James Patrick III    Department   Aoyama Gakuin University  Department of International Politics, School of International Politics, Economics and Communication    Position   Associate Professor
Language	English
Publication Date	2015/03
Type	Bulletin of Universities and Institutes
Title	Economic Liberalization and Corruption in the Developmental State: A Case Study of Indonesia in the 1990s
Contribution Type	Single
Volume, Issue, Page	pp.161-188
Details	This article evaluates the claim that economic liberalization reduces corruption in the challenging context of an authoritarian developmental state attempting to open its trade and capital markets while reducing state intervention in the economy. After reviewing the theoretical and empirical evidence behind the assertion that economic liberalization reduces corruption, the claim is considered against the backdrop of Indonesia in the 1990s, a case with high values in both the key variables involved: economic liberalization and corruption. Using newly-available measures of corruption to analyze the Indonesian case, the article points out weaknesses in the “liberalization as remedy” hypothesis and suggests conclusions that may apply to other developmental states. Specifically, it is argued that economic liberalization in the context of an authoritarian developmental state with a large domestic market is unlikely to reduce corruption and quite possibly may contribute to its worsening. The experience of Indonesia in the 1990s may thus hold lessons for other developmental states, especially China, seeking to control corruption while liberalizing large economies under authoritarian rule.