Charalampos Papadakis, George S. Atsalakis  
(Department of Production Engineering and Management, Technical University of Crete, Greece)

Abstract: As it emerges from Olson's theory and as confirmed by the studies that followed, interest groups affect the economies of the countries. This impact of interest groups on the economy of each country is very difficult to quantify, as well as the corruption. The aim of this study is to classify a group of countries by the degree of influence of the interest groups on the economy, following the same methodology as for the countries classification process based on the corruption perception index.

Key words: group of interests; retardants of growth; corruption; Olson hypothesis

JEL codes: D72, D02