Frontpage Articles
New issue of the ACRN Quarterly!
Do you want to find out about the latest in corruption research? Check out the new issue of our Anti-Corruption Research Network Quarterly .
Horse races, amateur bureaucrats and the public interest
In this blog post ACRN contributing editor Matt Jenkins tackles the topic of mentalities in early modern England. He focus on the work of Dr Aaron Graham and his research on how corruption was conceptualised at this time.
Curbing Corruption and Enhancing Trust in Government:
Some Lessons from Singapore and Hong Kong
Preventing Bribery and Extortion in International Business Transactions
This article argues for a modification in the U.S strategy in the battle against corruption in international business transactions. The author points out several drawbacks on imposing criminal penalties on only those who give bribes to foreign officials.
Corruption and Economic Growth
In this blog post ACRN contributing editor Andreas Assiotis examines and compares the effect corruption has on economic growth in democracies and authoritarian regimes. Andreas' submission on this thought-provoking research won the second place in the 2012 ACRN Research Paper contest for emerging researchers.
New issue of the ACRN Newsletter!
Do you want to find out about the latest in corruption research? Check out the new issue of our Anti-Corruption Research Network newsletter.
BLOG: Fighting corruption where and when it happens: Ambient accountability
In this blog post, Dieter Zinnbauer presents a powerful addition to the accountability toolbox: ambient accountability, the systematic use of physical space and the built environment to empower people to more effectively hold officials and service providers to account.
Conference Report: American Sociological Association (ASA) Conference 2012
As the runner-up of the 2011 ACRN Research Paper contest David Jancsics was awarded a scholarship to attend a research conference of his choice. David chose to attend the 2012 American Sociological Conference. In this blog post he draws our attention to some interesting papers and panels that dealt with corruption and related topics.
Blog: Structural Challenges to Anti-Corruption in Canada
In this blog post Robert Hanlon takes a critical look at anti-corruption efforts in Canada, one of the countries that is generally perceived to be "clean" in global rankings. He uncovers some disturbing trends in the practices of the private sector, especially in the construction industry. Robert sheds light on some of the underlying reasons of corrupt practices and the challenges faced by anti-corruption initiatives in Canada.
Blog: Corruption and Governance in Sub-Saharan Africa
In this blog post ACRN Contributing Editor Paul Lagunes and his colleagues from Yale University share their insights from a workshop on corruption and governance which took place in Cape Town this summer. The workshop helped shed light on some critical insights about the state of research on corruption and governance in Sub-Saharan Africa. In particular, the participants examined the gap between academic research and the needs of activists and practitioners and developed some suggestions on what a future research agenda could look like.
Shining the Light on Corruption Risks in Europe
How significant are the corruption risks within the European Union? What are the main gaps in the anti-corruption systems of European countries? What needs to be done? These were the main questions posed by a pan-European evidence-based advocacy initiative against corruption carried out by Transparency International over the last 18 months. This article summarises the key findings of this project.
Blog: Investigative Journalism at Work
In this blog post ACRN contributing editor Paul Lagunes provides a concise summary of the groundbreaking investigative report published in the New York Times on the use of bribery in Wal-Mart’s operations in Mexico. Using this story as a focal point, Paul highlights the crucial role that investigative journalism and the free press have historically played in countering corruption in various contexts.
Blog: Cracking the Myth of Petty Bribery
In this thought-provoking paper Eduardo Bohorquez and Deniz Devrim take a closer look at the concept of “petty bribery”. Using concrete evidence from Mexico they demonstrate that the impact of this type of corruption is anything but “petty” – it deprives individual citizens of their right to basic services such as health, education or water and exacts huge (monetary and non-monetary) tolls on the development of communities. At the same time, the use of the term “petty” signals an unwillingness to acknowledge the significance of this problem by policy makers.
Shell Companies and Puppet Masters
In this Featured Research Article Jason Sharman takes a hard-hitting look at the role of shell companies in facilitating corrupt transactions.
2011 ACRN Research Paper Contest Winners Announced!
We are very happy to announce the results of the 2011 ACRN Research Paper contest. This contest aims to give young scholars an opportunity to take up the challenge of filling important knowledge gaps, present innovative approaches for measuring and understanding corruption and showcase new findings on what works and what does not in tackling corruption. This year’s competition was intended for young scholars who are graduate students, post-doctoral fellows or scholars who have completed their PhDs within the last three years. The contest was made possible by the generous contributions of Transparency International, the Quality of Government Institute and the Institute for Security Studies.
Blog: Economic Crisis and Anti-Corruption in the EU
In this blog post ACRN contributing editor Patrycja Szarek Mason examines the European Union's anti-corruption policy in light of the unfolding economic crisis. She gives us an understanding of the context in which the EU's anti-corruption policy has developed, the measures taken so far and the gaps that still remain in ensuring that anti-corruption can be a safe-guard against future economic crises.
The Role of Corruption in Peacebuilding
In this Featured Research Article commissioned by the Anti-Corruption Research Network, authors Dominik Zaum and Christine Cheng explore the challenges and complexities of combating corruption in the peacebuilding process.
ACRN Blog: Reflections from a Research Conference
ACRN contributing editor Nicholas Charron recently attended the APSA (American Political Science Association) annual conference which was held in Seattle on 1 - 4 September 2011. In this post he shares his thoughts on the interesting panels, findings and trends in corruption research from political scientists around the world.
ACRN Blog: Audits and Anti-Corruption
In this blog post, ACRN Contributing Editor Paul Lagunes takes an in-depth look at auditing as a monitoring mechanism. He surveys the evidence thus far on the effectiveness of auditing as an anti-corruption tool and finds that while there is some data to suggest that audits can lead to the reduction of corruption, much more work is needed to understand the particular conditions under which audits are most effective.
ACRN Blog: Human Trafficking and Corruption
The role and implications of corruption in the conduct of human trafficking is slowly getting to the attention of scholars, practitioners and policy makers. While conferences and papers are beginning to shed light on the inter-linkages between the two issues, an immense gap in knowledge (as well as between knowledge and practice) still needs to be filled .
