Archive | Measurement and Research RSS feed for this section

Cross-continental promotion of corporate transparency

In July 2012 Transparency International published its report analysing the transparency of reporting on a range of anticorruption measures among the 105 largest publicly listed multinational companies. Assessing transparency in corporate reporting has been used by Transparency International for several years now and research for the next report scheduled for 2014 will start soon. The growth [...]

Read full story Comments { 1 }

History matters II – what stone carvings and magic lanterns have to do with fighting corruption

Some time ago I argued on this blog that looking back into history provides a very promising source for inspiration and innovation in the fight against corruption. Many things we consider new to modern government, such as measures managing conflicts of interest and insulating decision-making from policy capture were foreshadowed by and startlingly resemble many [...]

Read full story Comments { 2 }

Corruption and the fate of the people who make your clothes

Let the buyer beware: cheap clothing sometimes comes at a high price. Since the fire that killed 112 clothing workers in a Bangladesh factory last month,  the big global retailers supplied by the factory are being asked what they do to make sure the products we buy come from safe factories? How much is corruption [...]

Read full story Comments { 16 }

Corruption Perceptions Index 2012 and the European Financial Crisis

Europe’s rankings in the Corruption Perceptions Index 2012 are as diverse as the region itself. Clearly the perceived level of corruption in Greece (94th, the lowest EU state) is entirely different from that of Denmark and Finland, tied with New Zealand in first place. However, the old adage that corruption only occurs in the countries [...]

Read full story Comments { 5 }

Corruption: An ongoing revolution in the Arab world

The Arab world witnessed unprecedented changes with the toppling of dictators in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya last year. The Arab Spring served to transform the anti-corruption issue from the responsibility of a few, to the preoccupation of many. In most countries in the Middle East and North Africa region, trust in government remains low, with [...]

Read full story Comments { 3 }

Corruption Perceptions Index 2012: What is public sector corruption?

Last year, we ran a blog post examining the many forms of public sector corruption. In conjunction with the launch of our 2012 Corruption Perceptions Index, we are reposting this piece with updated figures. The Corruption Perceptions Index  highlights corruption in the public sector. But what exactly does this mean? Drawing on Transparency International’s Plain [...]

Read full story Comments { 6 }

The power of journalism as an anti-corruption tool

From 7-10 November 2012, more than 1,000 people from around the world will gather in Brasilia for the 15th International Anti-Corruption Conference. Brazil is a particularly interesting setting for the conference. Whilst discussing and debating some of the most pertinent corruption problems and solutions, one of Brazil’s biggest corruption cases in history – the Mensalão [...]

Read full story Comments { 1 }

TI Portugal Summer School: A lesson on integrity

You might have seen Portugal on the news recently. Just over a week ago, an estimated million people (in a country of roughly 10 million) took to the streets protesting new austerity measures announced by Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho. Talk of instability in the governing coalition amid increased public anger damaged the country’s reputation [...]

Read full story Comments { 2 }

Wanted: A replacement for “petty”

Eduardo Bohorquez and Deniz Devrim of Transparencia Mexicana, our national chapter in Mexico, recently published an article arguing for the abolishment of the word “petty” in the term “petty bribery”. They point out that petty bribery in fact generates substantial costs to society, both monetary and non-monetary. For example, surveys find that in Mexico households [...]

Read full story Comments { 10 }

Ireland: Political leaders need to tackle fundamental governance gaps which enable corruption and undermine our economic stability

It is no coincidence that countries suffering most from the European debt crisis also have major problems with corruption. While international indicators suggest that corruption is less pervasive in Ireland than, say, Greece or Spain, its ravaging impact on public finances is just as tangible. Corruption has played a starring role in our home-grown crisis. [...]

Read full story Comments { 0 }