In recent years, increased interest in understanding how social norms may play a role in fueling and perpetuating corruption has sparked interesting discussions about what the implications may be for anti-corruption practice. (See, for instance, “Anti-corruption through a social norms lens,” “What Anti-Corruption Practitioners Should Read About Social Norms,“ and “Collective Action on Corruption in…
Recent research in behavioural science has highlighted the importance of patient complaints in the UK National Health Service (NHS) as an indicator of the level of care and patient safety within the hospitals studied. Using information from patients receiving treatment in their job and work conditions, compliance with patient safety standards can be determined, and…
“Dasukigate.” “Cashgate.” “The Tageta Escrow Scandal.” With nicknames that belie their shocking scope and scale, high-level scandals like these have strained capacity and tested the integrity of anti-corruption agencies in Nigeria, Malawi, and Tanzania. These scandals also have exposed gaps in conventional narratives surrounding these countries’ corruption investigations and prosecutions that paint them as anemic,…
A new analysis of corruption and corruption reform in the electricity sectors of Ghana and Kenya suggests a new interpretation of how and why successes against corruption seem so elusive. This analysis makes sense of the apparent paradox that development projects can have positive outcomes whilst being beset with large-scale and ongoing corruption. To what extent is…
It is increasingly widely recognized that many of the enablers of large-scale corruption lie in transnational financial networks and, in particular, offshore secrecy jurisdictions. These secrecy jurisdictions facilitate the international movement and storage of funds acquired through corruption, tax evasion, smuggling, drug trading, and other criminal activities which, in-turn, facilitate further criminal and terrorist enterprise.
The scourge of corruption in urban development has corrosive and far-reaching effects that can hardwire injustice into the fabric of cities and undermine social cohesion and trust within communities.
Effective governance is essential for economic development. Civil servants that are motivated to work hard, serve the public interest, and refrain from engaging in corruption are the cornerstone of effective governance. Yet, even if it is widely accepted that the civil service is a critical area of public sector reform, we lack robust evidence on…
In many countries, donors and governments lose millions of dollars to the theft of medicines. In one audit, more than half of Ugandan government clinics had no antiretroviral (ARV) or tuberculosis (TB) medicine. In other audits, millions of dollars of donated medicines were missing from Zambia’s main medicine warehouse, and tens of millions of dollars…
Citizens in developing countries depend on the state to provide public services, either due to an absence of market provision or because of poverty (Afridi, 2017). Despite the importance of these services, some of the largest opportunities for corruption arise in public service delivery, e.g., in bribes from beneficiaries or procurement contracts. Leakages of funds…
The campaign to open up contracting around the world has had a positive consequence for corruption researchers: there is an abundance of data about public procurement (government purchases of goods, works and services from an external source through a tendering process). In our GI-ACE project, we use this data to develop new proxy indicators of corruption…
In most of the world, anti-corruption strategies are based on detecting and punishing corrupt acts, for example: Risk management strategies predict the misuse of public funds; Reporting platforms allow citizens to report on corrupt acts; Whistleblower protections encourage oversight of corruption by officials and the public; High-level campaigns target corrupt officials; Yet, the evidence that these strategies are effective at curbing…
In 2007, participants at the 6th National Seminar on Economic Crime in Abuja, Nigeria, were informed that some US$400 billion was estimated to have been stolen from public accounts in Nigeria over a 40-year period (Chatham House Report 2017). More recently, some US$32 billion ‘was lost to corruption’ during the six-year presidency of Goodluck Jonathan that ended…
For decades, improving pan-continental trade has been a critically important goal for African policymakers seeking to develop stronger economies and more collective global clout. On 30 May 2019, an ambitious African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Agreement entered into force. In East Africa, Kenya and Uganda also have announced a new level of cooperation to facilitate…
New project investigates laundering of monies and reputations by professional enablers for African and Central Asian elites Money laundering is a serious impediment to the effectiveness of official development assistance in creating a more prosperous, just, and democratic world. Someone looking to move illegally obtained money can far too easily hide his or her identity…
How do we – organizations and individuals working to strengthen transparency, accountability, and participation – more effectively fight corruption? For many of us, this is perhaps the perennial question.
The Global Integrity Anti-Corruption Evidence Programme (GI-ACE) supports 14 research partners around the world in generating actionable evidence that policy makers, practitioners, and advocates can use to design and implement more effective anti-corruption programmes. The Programme has three core themes: addressing the international financial and legal architecture that enables different types of high-level corruption to…
We are delighted to announce a new partnership between Global Integrity (GI) and the UK Department for International Development (DFID): The Global Integrity Anti-Corruption Evidence Programme (GI-ACE).
