Assessing the Impact of Corruption on Income Inequality

This article is devoted to the study of the impact of corruption on income distribution. The study reveals statistically significant associations between the level of corruption and income inequality in Kazakhstan by applying least squares linear regression models. The paper uses the Corruption Perception Index as a measure of corruption and the Gini Index as a measure of income inequality. The paper also analyzes the impact of corruption on income inequality in other countries. This made it possible to determine the specifics of such an impact in countries with different levels of economic development. The results of the study showed that a decrease in the level of corruption, expressed as an improvement in the Corruption Perception Index, is associated with a decrease in income inequality, expressed as the Gini Index. The study also found that population growth has high statistical significance and is associated with a significant reduction in the level of social inequality in Kazakhstan. This confirms that population growth is predominantly observed among the less well-off strata of society, which leads to an increase in the Gini coefficient.