Photo by: Konomiho/flickr.

Good practices

for assessing corruption

3 indices, 3 stories

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Country rankings by index

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CPI Global Integrity

Control of Corruption

Latvia Moldova Montenegro

Measuring corruption is not easy

• Multiple forms and understandings of what is corruption

• Corruption is hidden

• Politically sensitive, implying the need for reform

• Resource constraints and capacity deficits

Corruption indicators

-Number of reported cases of bribery within the police

-Police ranked as second most corrupt institution in public national perception surveys

- Proportion of bribe payments to income among individuals in low-income neighbourhoods - Existence of accessible and safe reporting mechanisms - Proportion of sanctions to registered complaints

Ways to measure corruption

Corruption indicators

The incidence of corrupt transactions

The impact of corruption

The existence and effectiveness of AC mechanisms

Ways to measure corruption

Country-level corruption and Anti-corruption assessment tools

Corruption

Diagnostic Assessments

Institutions

Processes

Sectors

Local level

Compliance monitoring

Perception

Experience/ victimisationPublic

opinion

Experts

Public sector

General population / vulnerable groups

Public sector

Private sector

Mapped by Transparency International

Transparency/Accountability/Integrity

Requests for new connections

Authorization of new connections

Hiring touts/ middlemen to fill in formsBribes to get filled forms depositedPayment to expedite new connectionsBribes to secure a new connectionBribes to speed up an applicationBribes to ensure forms are accepted

Service delivery

Offered extra payment to resolve problemAsked for payment to resolve problemBribes to stop reporting illegal connectionsPayments to expedite repair workPayments to make illegal connectionsUnofficial private repairsChoice of contractors – personal or political gain

Meter arrangement

Install meters/replacement of meters

Meter reading

Enter meter reading into billing system

Billing

Payment

Outputs billing/estimate billing for unmetered accounts

Computerized billing

Account summaries prepared and billing prepared for distribution

….

Extort payment to reduce meter readingBribes to reduce meter readingPayment to overlook an illegal connectionFalse meter readings

Payment to reduce bill

WEDC, Loughborough University

Example

Hot spot:Creating an impression of complexity of the procedure for obtaining a construction permit, to allow possibility of extorting a bribe.

AC mechanism:All interested parties must be clearly and precisely informed of the course and duration of the procedure for obtaining a permit and the documents required.

Indicator:Existence of a system for informing parties through written notices posted up or obtainable at the window from a clerk.

Good practices for measuring corruption

Investigative and preventive collaboration

Select research projects strategically

Break down corruption into specific practices

Engage with state and non-state stakeholders

Monitor reforms in practice, as well as in law

- Who did what, when and where

- Why it happens

- How it happens

- The best ways to intervene

- If interventions are working

- If not, why not

Information for combating corruption

Diagnosis & strategies for combating

Monitoring & evaluation

Investigation and prosecution (deterrence)

+ deterrent

x not all forms of corrupt conduct are reported or investigated

x investigations focus on the conduct of individuals, and ask different questions (who, where, when) from those relevant to preventing corruption (how, why)

x not a broad enough starting point

+ catalyst for organisational reform

+ investigations and research can support each other

(Gorta 2008)

Don’t depend on investigations to prevent corruption

- interviews, focus groups, surveys

- with citizens, about bribery-demand encounters and recommended interventions

- with public officials, about their perceptions of corruption within a ministry

-with private firms, about the reasons for and impact of private payments to government officials

- with offenders (privately) about how and why they engaged in corruption and what they recommend to prevent it

Information sources

- Observation

- Are paid-for services being delivered?

-Can public information be readily accessed?

- Legal frameworks

- Public administration data

- Reported cases of corruption

- organizational mandates, powers and procedures

- Literature reviews and experience sharing

- What can be learned from others’ experiences?

Information sources

Investigative and preventive research collaboration

Select research projects strategically

Break down corruption into specific practices

Engage with state and non-state stakeholders

Monitor reforms in practice, as well as in law

• Research involving the collection and analysis of new data is a time consuming process that is unlikely to be cheap or fast

• It should serve a clear policy impact, for the cost it will incur

• Needs clear objectives (e.g. to understand the nature of corruption in a specific sector, in order to derive appropriate interventions and performance indicators)

• Needs to be guided by the right questions

• Needs to be part of wider capacity development and reform or advocacy

Select research strategically

Investigative and preventive research collaboration

Select research projects strategically

Break down corruption into specific practices

Engage with state and non-state stakeholders

Monitor reforms in practice, as well as in law

Break down the concept of corruption

• ‘Corruption’ encompasses many different forms

• Speaking as if it were a single issue does not help to prevent the phenomenon

• Corrupt behaviours have different motivations and may require different prevention strategies

• Methods and techniques need to be adapted to the type of corruption being investigated

Investigative and preventive research collaboration

Select projects strategically

Break down corruption into specific practices

Engage with state and non-state stakeholders

Monitor reforms in practice, as well as on paper

Engage stakeholders

• in the research design (e.g. assessment framework, indicator selection)

• in risk mapping (public sector employees and service users)

• on recommendations to improve corruption and governance bottlenecks

• in monitoring reforms

• by periodically taking the public “pulse”

• in national and local media in communication strategies

x concerns about perception data - bias, lag effect

+ perception and opinion data matter

• agents base actions on perceptions

• can indicate low perceptions of state legitimacy

• high perceptions can fuel corrupt practices

• the gap between perception and reality is an indicator of needed action

This means using objective and subjective data

Investigative and preventive research collaboration

Select projects strategically

Break down corruption into specific practices

Engage with state and non-state stakeholders

Monitor reforms in practice, as well as on paper

• Use indicators that are actionable but also action-worthy

• Combine input and output/outcome based indicators to show discrepancies between change in law and change in practice

• Is there a discrepancy between change on paper and in practice? Why?

Input indicator: In law, the anti-corruption agency (or agencies) is protected from political interference.

Outcome indicator: In practice, the anti-corruption agency (or agencies) is protected from political interference

Monitor progress periodically with indicators

What is the value of monitoring the input and outcome sides of reform?

Discrepancies in law and practice are revealing

Photo by S.P. Schuman/ State University New York

Are laws and organisational reforms translating into impact on the ground? If not, why not?

• Inappropriate reforms?

• Economically perverse incentives?

• Vested political interests?

• Lack of capacity (e.g. human resources, information retrieval systems)?

• High tolerance of corrupt conduct by the public?

• Different understandings of what is corrupt conduct?

Capacity implications?

Photo by Adam Robers/ UNCDF

Capacity to…

• consult with a range of stakeholders from the outset

• define policy objectives

• design a research plan

• carry out data collection

• analyze data

• to derive recommendations

• to follow up with ongoing monitoring of reforms

• to promote use of information by policy-makers and society

Potential obstacles

• social science research is undervalued/supported

• lack of technical expertise combined with policy understanding (design, analysis & recommendations)

• lack of adequate manpower for implementation

• inefficient or absent data management systems

• compromised validity and credibility of results due to lack of independence or technical capacity

Bridging the gap

• Leadership that values social science research

• Coordinating with public sector agencies, line ministries (independence?), specialized integrity commissions

• Involving civil society, research institutes (some limits in terms of accessing )

• Minimum of in-house technical capacities for research design and analysis that is also cleared to access information obtained under secrecy provisions