What is corruption and anticorruption?
Global perspectives on costs of corruption
and anti-corruption approaches
Jesper Johnsøn, U4
Costs of corruption
• What type of corruption, what type of cost?
– Bribery reducing foreign direct investment,
rent-seeking limiting competition,
leakage/waste reduces state revenue
– Grand corruption impact on social contract
and state-formation, electoral corruption,
broken accountability
– Unfair social dynamics created by petty
corruption + self-serving elites – corruption
hurts the poor disproportionately
Economic
costs
Political
costs
Social,
individual
costs
A few global cost quotes…
• Globally estimated US$ 1 trillion paid in bribes
• Tackling corruption, improving governance and rule of law
could increase per capita income 400%
• Increase in corruption index by one point acts as 7.5% tax
increase, reducing FDI inflows
• US$ 197 billion illicit financial flows from 48 poorest developing
countries into developed countries 1990-2008
• Corruption is associated with reduced trust in political
institutions
• 16/20 countries in the bottom CPI are in conflict - citizens of
conflict-affected states often view corruption as an important
source of insecurity and conflict
Illustrative examples of local costs and antiControl,
corruption
benefits
•
•
•
Access to
monitoring
Indonesia – village roads – audits reduced missing expenditures by
information,
8% and
- CBA =sanctions
$245/village
Argentina – hospital procurement – prices decrease 10% after
media, whistlecrackdown (audits)
Uganda – education – access to information and budget
tracking
blowing
reduces leakage from 80% in 1995 to 20% in 2001
• India – education – formal monitoring reduces absenteeism from
42% to 21%. Test scores improve.
• Uganda – health – community monitoring reduces child deaths by
33%
• Brazil – elections – access to information + auditing lowers reelection rates for corrupt local officials
Basics of anti-corruption continued – the policy
level
Four general characteristics have traditionally been
identified as facilitating corruption:
• Monopoly of power
Anti-corruption
• Wide discretion
approaches
• Lack of transparency in decision-making
designed to
• Weak checks-and-balances for decision-making
counter such
facilitating factors
National Integrity System
Multi-Pronged Approach – Accountability linkages
United Nations Convention Against Corruption
Does anti-corruption work?