Jiangnan Zhu           Yiping Wu

              (University of Nevada, Reno      Zhejiang University of Finance and Economics)

Abstract: What sectors are most corrupt in contemporary China? This article attempts to answer this question by proposing a mecro-approach which examines corruption in China at a sectorial dimension. While existing research often studies corruption from macro or micro- perspectives, recent international experiences show that a best way to understand the spread of corruption and how to control it is by analyzing its impact sector-by-sector. In this research, we utilize a firm level survey from 1997 to 2006 in China and average two types of fees paid by firms as an indicator of potential corruption in a sector. The first is public relation building fees spent by firms proactively and the second is various arbitrary illegal fees collected by government from firms. Using this indicator, we find out overall distribution of corruption across sectors and high corruption sectors’ changing pattern over tie.