Young anti-corruption scholars around the world: The ACRN Research Paper Competition

With this post I would like to invite submissions from young researchers for the first ever anti-corruption research paper competition of the Anti-Corruption Research Network (ACRN).

The author of the winning paper will receive a scholarship to participate at the 14^th International Anti-Corruption Conference (IACC) being held on 10-13 November, 2010 in Bangkok, Thailand. But more than that: With this competition we would like to showcase the work of young researchers to the anti-corruption community and present innovative approaches for understanding what works and what does not in tackling corruption.

The newly created ACRN is a global network of anti-corruption scholars and practitioners which aims to: stimulate learning through information exchange, promote new, innovative research and address knowledge gaps and emerging issues. An interactive ACRN web platform will be launched in the coming weeks. The papers will be published on this platform, as well as on the website of the 14th IACC.

The  range of research questions and topics that qualify is very broad. The following are a few examples of the diversity of issues that can be addressed:

• How can we empirically measure more covert or clandestine forms of corruption such as nepotism, influence-peddling, astro-turfing?
• Supply-side solutions to corruption: can market forces be shaped to fight corruption?
• What is the role of corruption in undermining nation-building in post-conflict societies? What do we know about how to best sequence reforms?
• How does climate change impact upon the corruption risk landscape?

Of course, your papers should be methodologically and analytically sound and produce policy-relevant insights. Papers should be no longer than 4000 words, excluding footnotes and references. Submissions can be based on recent working papers or very recent journal publications (2009 onwards).

Please send your submissions to me at fnawaz [at] transparency.org by 20 September 2010 and put “ACRN research paper competition” in the subject line.