Anti-Corruption Policies and Programs : A Framework for Evaluation

The anti-corruption strategy the World Bank announced in September 1997 defined corruption as the "use of public office for private gain" and called for the Bank to address corruption along four dimensions: 1) Preventing fraud and corruption in Bank projects; 2) Helping countries that request Bank assistance for fighting corruption; 3) Mainstreaming a concern about corruption in Bank work; and 4) Lending active support to international efforts to address corruption. The menu of possible actions to contain corruption (in both countries and Bank projects) is very large, so the authors develop a framework to help assign priorities, depending on views of what does and does not work in specific countries. Their framework, based on public officials' incentives for opportunistic behavior, distinguishes between highly corrupt and largely corruption-free societies. Certain conditions encourage public officials to seek or accept corruption: a) The expected gains from undertaking a corrupt act exceed the expected costs. b) Little weight is placed on the cost that corruption imposes on others. In a country with heavy corruption and poor governance, the priorities in anti-corruption efforts would then be to establish rule of law, strengthen institutions of participation and accountability, and limit government interventions to focus on core mandates. In a country with moderate corruption and fair governance, the priorities would be decentralization and economic reform, results-oriented management and evaluation, and the introduction of incentives for competitive delivery of public services. In a country with little corruption and strong governance, the priorities might be explicit anti-corruption agencies and programs, stronger financial management, increased public and government awareness, no-bribery pledges, efforts to fry the "big fish," and so on.

Bibliographic Details

Main Authors:	Huther, Jeff, Shah, Anwar
Language:	English en_US
Published:	World Bank, Washington, DC 2000-12
Subjects:	ACCOUNTABILITY, ANTI- CORRUPTION, ANTI-CORRUPTION, ANTI-CORRUPTION ACTIONS, ANTI-CORRUPTION STRATEGY, ANTICORRUPTION, BASIC NEEDS, BENEFITS OF CORRUPTION, BRIBERY, BRIBERY OF FOREIGN PUBLIC OFFICIALS, BRIBES, BUREAUCRACY, BUREAUCRATIC STRUCTURES, CAPACITY BUILDING, CITIZEN, CITIZEN PARTICIPATION, CITIZENS, CIVIL SERVICE, COLLUSION, COMBATING BRIBERY, CONSENSUS, CONTROLLING CORRUPTION, CORRUPT ACTS, CORRUPT INTERESTS, CORRUPT OFFICIALS, CORRUPT PRACTICES, CORRUPTION ACTS, CORRUPTION PENALTIES, CREDIBILITY, DECENTRALIZATION, DECISION MAKING, DECISION-MAKING, DEMOCRATIC ACCOUNTABILITY, DEMOCRATIC INSTITUTIONS, DISCRETION, ECONOMIC GROWTH, ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE, ELECTORAL PROCESS, ETHICS, EXTORTION, FIGHTING CORRUPTION, FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT, FISCAL, FISCAL DECENTRALIZATION, FRAUD, FREE PRESS, GOOD GOVERNANCE, GOVERNANCE FAILURES, GOVERNANCE QUALITY, GOVERNMENT CORRUPTION, GOVERNMENT SERVICES, GOVERNMENT SIZE, GOVERNMENT SUBSIDIES, GRAFT, GRAND CORRUPTION, INCOME, INSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT, INSTITUTIONAL ENVIRONMENT, INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK, INSTITUTIONAL MEASURES, INSTITUTIONAL REFORM, INTEGRITY, INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS TRANSACTIONS, INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT, INTERNATIONAL ECONOMICS, JUDICIAL INDEPENDENCE, JUDICIAL PROCEEDINGS, JUDICIAL REFORM, JUDICIARY, LAWS, LEGAL SYSTEM, LEGISLATION, LISTENING, MEASUREMENT ERRORS, MEDIA, MEDIA FREEDOM, MEDIA INDEPENDENCE, MOTIVATIONS, NO BRIBERY PLEDGE, PARLIAMENT, PARLIAMENTARY OVERSIGHT, PENALTIES, PETTY CORRUPTION, POLITICAL CORRUPTION, POLITICAL ECONOMY, POLITICIANS, POOR GOVERNANCE, POVERTY ALLEVIATION, POVERTY REDUCTION, PRESIDENTS, PRIME MINISTER, PRIORITIES, PROCUREMENT, PROSECUTION, PUBLIC ACCOUNTABILITY, PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT, PUBLIC EXPENDITURE, PUBLIC FUNDS, PUBLIC OFFICIALS, PUBLIC OPINION, PUBLIC PARTICIPATION, PUBLIC SECTOR, PUBLIC SERVICE, PUBLIC SERVICE DELIVERY, REGULATORY CAPTURE, REMEDIES, RULE OF LAW, SANCTIONS, SELF-INTEREST, SERVICE DELIVERY, SIZE OF GOVERNMENT, STAKEHOLDERS, TAX EVASION, TAXATION, TRANSPARENCY,
Online Access:	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2000/12/748708/anti-corruption-policies-programs-framework-evaluation https://hdl.handle.net/10986/19753
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