Date of Award

Summer 8-2025

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Program/Concentration

Graduate Program in International Studies

Committee Director

Francis Adams

Committee Member

Jesse Richman

Committee Member

David Selover

Abstract

The economic growth of emerging economies, particularly India’s, stands at a crossroads as the fight against corruption intensifies. Corruption poses a significant threat to the overall development of a country, necessitating the convergence of technological advances with national and global initiatives to combat the issue. Despite several ongoing efforts taken by international bodies to enforce regulations, challenges persist in curbing this issue due to the fundamental behavioral and structural factors at play. This dissertation investigates the dynamic evolution of corruption within a cash-based economy, a period of trade openness, and the contemporary digitalized age in India through a comparative case study. Primarily focusing on India and drawing insights spanning these historical times, this research examines the intricate interplay between the various economic, political, cultural, and technological factors and the corruption that impedes the holistic development of the country. By integrating a multifaceted literature, this study analyzes the cause - effect relationship between development and corruption, identifying the paradoxical ways in which technological improvements both promote national development and provide fertile grounds for corruption to thrive. The findings provide valuable insights on the interplay between the independent variables and uncover that corruption is resilient and versatile and has transformed from manual to algorithmic forms. However, digitalization has minimized conventional corruption through increased transparency and accountability and decreased human intervention. It may have inadvertently created new opportunities for corruption when interacting with existing institutional weaknesses, political reforms, and cultural norms, but the occurrence of high magnitude cases has decreased. By comprehending the changing nature of corruption in different historical periods, the findings provide keys to combat corruption within the existing technological advancements and promote solutions for sustainable growth in India and various emerging worldwide economies.

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DOI

10.25777/ven8-2042

ISBN

9798293841509

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