TO WHAT EXTENT DOES DIGITALIZATION AFFECT THE CORRUPTION RATE IN KAZAKHSTAN?

Abstract

In the search for economic growth drivers, scholars identify consistent and transparent public policy as the foundation in any stage of a country's economic development. Transparency of public decisions and policy processes leads to the trust between government and society along with the national integrity, impartiality, accountability and low corruption level. Transparent and non-corrupted governance in Kazakhstan is supposed to be achieved by the mechanism of digitalization of public services. However, Kazakhstan as a sub-regional leader in e-governance still remains the outlier in terms of corruption combating. This research is aimed at analysis of linkage between digitalization and the corruption level. In spite of an array of studies on this theme, findings still present ambiguous interpretations. Our study makes an effort to understand the impact of digitalization in public services’ field on the corruption rate in Kazakhstan over the course of the last decade.