title: Revisiting informal payments in 29 transitional countries: The scale and socio-economic correlates.
abstract: This study assesses informal payments (IPs) in 29 transitional countries using a fully comparable household survey. The countries of the former Soviet Union, especially those in the Caucasus and Central Asia, exhibit the highest scale of IPs, followed by Southern Europe, and then Eastern Europe. The lowest and the highest scale of IPs were in Slovenia (2.7%) and Azerbaijan (73.9%) respectively. We found that being from a wealthier household, experiencing lower quality of healthcare in the form of long waiting times, lack of medicines, absence of personnel, and disrespectful treatment, and having relatives to help when needed, are associated with a higher odds ratio of IPs. Conversely, working for the government is associated with a lower odds ratio of IPs. Living in the countries of the former Soviet Union and in Mongolia is associated with the highest likelihood of IPs, and this is followed by the countries of the Southern Europe. In contrast, living in the countries of Eastern Europe is associated with the lowest likelihood of IPs.
authors.affiliation: University of Windsor, 167 Ferry St., Windsor, Ontario, N9A0C5, Canada. Electronic address: nnh@uwindsor.ca.
authors.forename: Nazim
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Habibov
authors.affiliation: University of Windsor, 401 Sunset Avenue, Windsor, Ontario, N9C4E1, Canada. Electronic address: cheun113@uwindsor.ca.
authors.forename: Alex
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cheung
mesh_terms: D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000191:economics / Q000592:standards* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003906:Developing Countries / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005060:Europe; D005061:Europe, Eastern; D005102:Health Expenditures / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007182:Income / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D007349:Insurance, Health, Reimbursement / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Corruption; Health policy and planning; Informal payments; Post-communist countries