International Analysis


Editors' Picks (37)
A Trio of Perspectives on Corruption: Bias, Speed Money and “Grand Theft Infrastructure” Drawing upon the freshly expanded World Bank’s Enterprise Survey (ES), Kenny, Klein and Sztajerowska present an original paper examining three themes: corruption measurement pitfalls, corruption as efficient grease, and corruption in infrastructure. The Enterprise Survey now covers 125 countries and provides interesting insights, depicting an alternative picture from Transparency Internaional’s CPI or the World Bank’s Doing Business data – the latter portraying a de jure description of firm's environment, focusing on the institutional background. Read More...
The Puppet Masters: How the Corrupt Use Legal Structures to Hide Stolen Assets and What to Do About It Virtually all grand corruption cases involve a company, trust, or foundation (“corporate vehicles”) that has been created to conceal the beneficial owner’s identity. This report from the Stolen Asset Recovery initiative (StAR) of the World Bank and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime explores how government officials hide ownership and control of corrupt assets behind constructions of paper. It makes recommendations on measures governments can take to prevent the abuse of legal structures for the purpose of hiding corrupt funds. Read More...
Political Polarization as a Constraint on Corruption: A Cross-National Comparison In this paper the authors take a novel approach to understanding political corruption. They use panel data from a broad range of countries to support the theory that ideological polarisation can be used as a predictor of the perceived level of corruption within a country. Moreover, they claim that political polarisation itself can act as a constraint on corruption. Read More...
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Datasets (7)
Where the Bribes Are Paid - Interactive Database This interactive database compiles decades of data on violations and penalties under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the U.S. flagship legislation that makes bribery of foreign officials a crime. Since its inception, prosecutors have penalized over 200 companies under the FCPA in about 80 countries, amassing about $4 billion in penalties. The database, called Where the Bribes are Paid , allows users to see how the total penalties amassed in each country break down by sector. Read More...
Doing Business 2012: Doing Business in a More Transparent World This year's ranking and report assesses regulations affecting domestic firms in 183 economies and ranks the economies in 10 areas of business regulation, such as starting a business, resolving insolvency and trading across borders. The report rankings on ease of doing business have expanded to include indicators on getting electricity. In this year's rankings Singapore leads on the overall ease of doing business, followed by Hong Kong SAR, China; New Zealand; the United States; and Denmark. Read More...
The Rule of Law Index, 2011 The Rule of Law Index is a quantitative assessment tool designed to offer a comprehensive picture of the extent to which countries adhere to the rule of law. The Index presents a comprehensive set of indicators on the rule of law from the perspective of the ordinary person. It examines practical situations in which a rule of law deficit may affect the daily lives of ordinary people. For example, it evaluates whether citizens can access public services without the need to bribe a government officer. The Index provides new data on the following nine dimensions of the rule of law: limited government powers, absence of corruption, order and security, fundamental rights, open government, effective regulatory enforcement, access to civil justice, effective criminal justice, informal justice. Read More...
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Courses (2)
Corruption, Development and Democracy (American University) This course discusses the causes of corruption and evaluates various strategies for eliminating the abuse of public authority for personal ends. It begins with questions of definition and measurement: How can corruption in its various forms be identified, and how can levels and the prevalence of corruption be measured? Second, it considers how corruption impacts government performance generally and perverts distribution by directing public resources for political favouritism or personal gain. This includes a blunt assessment of opportunism by the private sector and other actors. Third, it explores the roots of corruption in culture, weak governance, or structural distortions. Read More...
Political Economy of Corruption and Good Governance (Department of Public Affairs, Lafollette School of Public Affairs) The focus of this seminar is on the question: What are the prospects for success in anti-corruption reform and prescriptions, if any, for hurrying good governance along? The seminar has a strong policy orientation: it considers the state of cumulative knowledge on corruption as a policy issue that demands action both within countries and globally by a wide range of players. Read More...
 
 
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