Control of corruption in Emerging Asian Economies: The influence of GDP, freedom and speech, rule of law, and women in parliament

This study uses panel data from 2002 to 2023, analyzed using the Panel System Generalized Method of Moments (System GMM) to investigate the effects of economic, political, and legal factors on the Control of Corruption Index (CC) in nine Emerging Asian (EMA) nations. Robustness is examined by re-estimating the model using common effects, random effects, and fixed effects estimators. The findings show that anticorruption initiatives are supported by foreign direct investment (FDI), freedom of speech and accountability, the rule of law, and the proportion of women in parliament, and that corruption control can be hindered by economic factors, such as GDP and inflation. The results further highlight a paradoxical development pattern in which economic growth may outpace institutional capacity, allowing corruption risk—such as particularistic spending and executive corruption—to persist despite formal improvements in corruption control. The results suggest that public integrity can be strengthened by enhancing institutional quality in EMA countries through the improvement of women's engagement in public life, more stringent law enforcement, and improved freedom of speech and accountability. The abuse of power for private gain is likely to increase when an emerging nation grows, so stricter anticorruption governance is needed.