Organizing Transparency

RIEDS - Rivista Italiana di Economia, Demografia e Statistica-Italian Review of Economics, Demography and Statistics, 2018

Public Integrity

This study fits into a larger discussion on transparency in the public sector, seeking to provide a reflection on both the lessons learned from the experiences of researchers working in the field as well as on their respective suggestions for further research. In this paper, itself exploratory in nature, the qualitative components of a literature review are addressed -based on a structured, non-intentional approach, incorporating both qualitative and quantitative factors-with the goal of a deeper understanding on the phenomenon of transparency and its relationships to accountability and corruption in the public sector. In terms of research methodology, articles selected through the skimming technique are used as the data source, drawing from databases recognized on part of the corresponding scientific community; content analysis was employed to interpret and categorize the studies in question. By way of an inductive process, the data were organized in order to identify emerging research topics, which were later discussed through textual accounts. Resulting from this, the lessons learned on the identified research topics and a proposal for additional studies, based on the suggestions of the authors, were compiled. The relevance of this study could be backed by its identification of existing knowledge gaps that deserve the attention of academics carrying out research in topics related to transparency, as well as its relationships to accountability and corruption in the realm of the public sector.

2019

We use a laboratory experiment to study the impact of transparency on reducing corruption in contexts where embezzlement and bribery can co-occur. These contexts are closely related to grand corruption settings, where different types of corruption occur and allow people in power to take advantage of their position. Transparency is expected to have a positive effect on reducing corruption. However, our results show that transparency decreases embezzlement by roughly ten percentage points, while it has no significant effect on bribery. The observed differential impact of transparency could be attributed to strategic lying by the resource manager, who acts as if low public investment rates were a consequence of bad luck (low budget) instead of misappropriation. This suggests that the impact of transparency cannot be generalized to all types of corruption when different types co-exist.

Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, 2019

Transparency and corruption are topics with high interest not only for researchers but especially for politicians, citizens and decision takers. Transparency is seen as an important instrument in the fight against corruption. Transparency and corruption phenomena are considered to be the most difficult to assess due to the subjectivity that characterizes them. For this reason, in this study we will show some results based on citizens perception. The method used to collect information regarding citizens perception is questionnaire and than the data are analyzed through a logistic model. Interesting results came out this research such as people who have been in contact with public institutions during the last months have 5,477 times more opportunities to give bribes compared to those who have not been in contact. Transparency is considered a good tool to fight corruption because based on the model result people who know the meaning of the right to information have 86.3% less chance to...

This study fits into a larger discussion on transparency in the public sector, seeking to provide a reflection on both the lessons learned from the experiences of researchers working in the field as well as on their respective suggestions for further research. In this paper, itself exploratory in nature, the qualitative components of a literature review are addressed –based on a structured, non-intentional approach, incorporating both qualitative and quantitative factors- with the goal of a deeper understanding on the phenomenon of transparency and its relationships to accountability and corruption in the public sector. In terms of research methodology, articles selected through the skimming technique are used as the data source, drawing from databases recognized on part of the corresponding scientific community; content analysis was employed to interpret and categorize the studies in question. By way of an inductive process, the data were organized in order to identify emerging res...

SSRN Electronic Journal

This article offers the first comprehensive review of the interdisciplinary state of knowledge regarding anti-corruption policies, with a particular focus on reducing corruption among civil servants. Drawing on the work of economists, political scientists, sociologists, and anthropologists, we examine seven policy categories: (1) rewards and penalties; (2) monitoring; (3) restructuring bureaucracies; (4) screening and recruiting; (5) anti-corruption agencies; (6) educational campaigns; and (7) international agreements. Notably, rigorous empirical evaluation is lacking for the majority of commonly prescribed anti-corruption policies. Nevertheless, we find growing evidence of the effectiveness of anti-corruption audits and e-governance. In addition, adequate civil service wages seem to be a necessary but insufficient condition for control of corruption. An emerging skepticism regarding the effectiveness of anti-corruption agencies also is apparent in the literature. We conclude with broader lessons drawn from our review, such as the recognition that when corruption is a systemic problem, it cannot be treated in the long term with individual-level solutions.

2017

Basel Institute on Governance Working Papers, 2017

Corporate Ownership and Control, 2011

This paper draws on the available interdisciplinary literature on corruption. We describe corruption as a highly complex phenomenon, which includes heterogeneous elements with nontrivial relationships, unpredictable evolution and changing dynamics. We conclude that anticorruption efforts must be aware of this complexity and include the needed governance instruments. Self-regulation, transparency and ethics re called on to play a fundamental role.

Journal of Financial Crime, 2019

Purpose-The purpose of this paper is to provide an adequate account of anti-corruption agency (ACA) ineffectiveness and propose the kind of ACA that would hold the promise of success. The paper draws on legitimacy theory, legal process and the notion of integrity of purpose. Design/methodology/approach-This paper contextualizes the establishment and proliferation of ACAs; explores different ways of conceptualizing them; examines the broad range of factors that have underpinned ACA ineffectiveness and utilizes both legitimacy theory and the notion of the integrity of purpose. Findings-The one-ACA-model-fits-all approach in corruption-control has been an abysmal failure. Disentangling the reasons for ACA ineffectiveness reveals various endogenous and exogenous factors. It also emphasizes the crucial importance of integrating both legitimacy theory and integrity of purpose in a revamped ACA concept that meets the corruption-control challenge. Practical implications-It is possible to design and implement an effective ACA by avoiding various factors that have been shown to seriously undermine corruption control efforts by also drawing on legitimacy theory, legal process and integrity of purpose. Social implications-Corruption in both the public and private sectors cannot be controlled in isolation from other socioeconomic problems. An effective ACA is one that fosters integrity and is considered legitimate by its stakeholders. Originality/value-While there have been some articles the past two decades discussing the effectiveness of ACAs in particular countries, this is the first paper to account for the overall ACA ineffectiveness also using legitimacy theory, legal process and integrity of purpose to revamp the ACA concept.