Institutional corruption: Some issues

Abstract Institutional corruption can be defined as a corrupt act by a public or private agent that is justifiable legally. This arises out of the degree of discretion of the constitutional framework, missing institutions, laws, and regulations. The ability of powerful agents to influence the making and implementation of laws and regulations is the source of institutional corruption. This article develops a conceptual framework of institutional corruption and applies some of the dimensions to the issue of privatization of nonrenewable natural resources in India. We analyze three case studies in oil and gas, coal blocks, and bauxite mining. We observe that it is important for developing economies to establish independent and autonomous regulatory institutions and the Supreme Court to minimize the costs of institutional corruption. In democracies, freedom of civic bodies and the media is also a necessary condition.