Public Perceptions of Corruption in East Asia: A Comparative Study of Japan, Singapore, and South Korea

This research analyzes perceptions of corruption through comparative case studies of South Korea, Japan, and Singapore. It looks to political party affiliation and socioeconomic status for effects on an individual’s perception of corruption. It hypothesizes that individuals more affiliated with the ruling party will perceive the government as less corrupt and individuals that are less affiliated will perceive it as more. Socioeconomic status is split into income, social status, and education variables. Individuals with a lower income and status will perceive the government as more corrupt, while overall higher status and income individuals will perceive it as less. On the other hand, education is predicted to have the opposite: the more educated will perceive more corruption than the less educated. This research found that the hypotheses are not all supported, but the statistical results from the South Korea case are much stronger than in Singapore and Japan. The results and analysis can be beneficial to the future study of perceptions of corruption.