Similarities and differences in the phenomenon of the "integrity" in OECD countries
"Integrity" as an expression of honesty and trustworthiness of proceedings of public authorities is the cornerstone of good governance. Promoting integrity and preventing corruption in the public sector supports equal chances for companies and is necessary to maintain confidence in the government. This is an important factor in building competitive economies.
"Integrity" refers to the use of values, principles and standards in the daily activities of public sector entities. Governments are under increasing pressure from the public to access information, resources and powers adequate for the intended purposes while pursuing assumptions of the concept of "integrity". Achieving the "integrity" culture, requires consistent efforts to update standards, provide guidance and monitoring and enforcement of them in daily practice. It also requires from governments the ability to predict risks and rapid application of the measures.
The aim of the article is to present a relatively young concept of "integrity" in light of research conducted by the OECD. As complementary targets to analyze clusters, this will permit answering the question of how Member States apply the concept of "integrity", in reference to the position of objects in the group in such a way that the degree of their relationship with other countries belonging to the same group is the greatest. This analysis will identify trends and whether there are mutual similarities in the countries included as part of the so-called geopolitical system.
Data and results
The study will include member OECD countries. The phenomenon of "integrity" was not subject to full study due to the use of different models of the occurrence of suspicious transactions. The measures taken led to the development of the concept and indications on the state of implementation of the " integrity" concept. The analysis covered: the disclosure of private interests of public officials and public availability of the information provided. Empirical data is available only for 2014. To evaluate the occurring trends of the characteristic traits, "integrity" will be used for the cluster analysis.
The analysis should give an answer on how to shape tested attributes in homogenous terms based on the characteristics of clusters of countries. Specifically, does socio-economic change, specifics of the countries, or the degree of socio-economic development have an impact on the occurrence of certain characteristics of the phenomenon of "integrity"?