影響貪腐發生的原因可簡化為「機會、動機與風險」三項。當國家掌握資源分配，此即提供代理人貪腐的機會；當社會充斥相對剝奪感、社會順從心理、法治文化缺乏及特殊主義氾濫，則易滋生貪腐的動機；一國肅貪組織是否獨立健全？領導人是否支持肅貪？媒體是否受政府控制？貪腐行為受偵訴的機率，以及貪腐行為可能受懲處的輕重，此則影響代理人從事貪腐時的風險評估。如欲有效防治貪腐行為，必須針對貪腐的成因排除其在機會、動機和風險上各種有利貪腐的可能。
本文依據國際透明組織（TI）衡量各國政治貪腐程度所運用之「貪腐印象指數」（CPI），比較中、港、台、新四地的貪腐程度。同屬華人文化的台灣，其政府對經濟活動的管制介於港、新與中國之間，司法獨立性與肅貪機構的效能也無法和港、新相比擬，因此，如何借鑑港、新兩地的作為，合理地降低政府對經濟活動的干預，並透過強化肅貪機構之獨立性，以及政治領導人的自清，才能有效改善貪腐的危害。

Causes of corruption can be simply classified into “opportunity, motivation, and risk”. When resource distribution is dominated by the government, there will be opportunities for the agents to engage in corruption. When the society is full of the sentiment of relative deprivation and social conformity, legal culture is absent, and particularism is overwhelming, motivations for corruption are likely to grow. Whether the anti-corruption institutions of a nation are independent, whether the national leader supports anti-corruption, whether the media are under control, the probability of corruptive behaviors being indicted, and the punishment on corruptive behaviors will affect the risk assessment of the agents intending to conduct corrupting behaviors. To effectively prevent corruptive behaviors, any factor that may affect the opportunity, motivation, and risk to engage in corruption should be excluded.
This study applied “Corruption Perceptions Index” (CPI) proposed by Transparency International (TI) to compare the degree of corruption perceived in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Singapore. Taiwan is also a nation of Chinese culture. The Taiwanese government has an intermediate control over economic activities in comparison with the governments of Hong Kong, Singapore, and China. However, in terms of judicial independence and performance of anti-corruption institutions, Taiwan cannot be compared to Hong Kong and Singapore. Thus, learning from Hong Kong and Singapore to reasonably reduce government’s intervention in economic activities, strengthen the independence of anti-corruption institutions, and promote self-purification of political leaders will be critical to an effective improvement of corruption.