CORRUPTION IN VISEGRAD FOUR COUNTRIES

Corruption as an economic phenomena is mentioned in the first part of paper. Differences in the extent of corruption among countries can be explained by the summary of the main causes and consequences of corruption. Corruption influences economic performance and competitiveness. The level of corruption in post communist countries is above EU average level and it is usually higher in the former communist countries than in most European Union countries. The second part of paper will focus on the level of corruption in the Czech Republic, Slovak Republic, Hungary, Poland and Austria. The Visegrad Four countries have gone through similar social and historical development in recent decades. Comparison of the four countries has confirmed the hypothesis that the level of corruption is influenced by social developments and traditions. Austria is mentioned as an example of a country that went through the centuries similar development such as Visegrad Four countries but its situation was different during the communist regime in the other mentioned countries. If development is comparable in the Visegrad Four countries and different from the situation in Austria it can be interpreted as a consequence of the communist regime.