Abstract Corruption across European Union member countries varies significantly. Cluster analysis groups these countries into four categories. Regression analysis using Corruption Perception Index as a measure of corruption and independent variables—nature of democracy, human development index, gross domestic product, per capita income, years in the Union, and Euro currency membership—indicates that least corrupt countries are “full” democracies, where civil liberties are respected and reinforced by a political culture that includes an independent judiciary and media. Bribe-taking is significantly higher in “flawed” democracies where the political culture is underdeveloped, participation in politics is low and there are governance issues.

中文翻译：

---

欧盟国家国际业务中的贿赂：模式和解释

摘要欧盟成员国之间的腐败差异很大。聚类分析将这些国家分为四类。使用腐败感知指数作为腐败和独立变量（民主的性质，人类发展指数，国内生产总值，人均收入，联盟年限和欧元成员国）的度量进行回归分析，表明最不腐败的国家“充裕”民主国家，包括独立司法机构和媒体在内的政治文化在其中尊重和加强了公民自由。在“有缺陷的”民主国家，受贿要高得多，那里的政治文化不发达，参政率低，并且存在治理问题。