The foundation of corruption is personal gain, tangible or intangible, by illegal or amoral, unethical or unfair means, at the expense of others. Transparency International, the world’s most influential anti-corruption non-governmental organization (NGO), and the leaders of many
Western governments have observed that there is a high correlation between corruption and low economic development (Peng, 2008, p. 70). Is this true? The paper uses a simple
corruption-development model and recent Transparency International data to test this hypothesis and its causality for 15 countries and areas in Asia and 20 developed countries evolving during two periods, 2001 and 2008. The direction and intensity of corruption causality
are then established, and anti-corruption and pro-economic development policy recommended to governmental and NGO decision-makers in order to help minimize the incidence of corruption. It is aimed therefore at promoting better government and corporate governance to enhance economic
growth and social harmony in the developing countries of Asia.