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Published byAlbert Sims Modified over 9 years ago
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Through to mid-1990s: Corruption a byproduct of under-development. Address through overall development strategies. Corruption in Bank projects, specifically, a concern. ▪ Rely on country systems and normal corporate fiduciary practices. Mid-1990s – mid-2000s: Corruption a cause of under- development Support anti-corruption policies (e.g., Hong Kong style anti- corruption boards, asset declaration, etc.). Governance (not specifically corruption) conditions IDA allocations.
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Corruption THE obstacle to development: Country corruption an overriding factor in conditioning lending; Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) No consensus on assessing corruption creates organizational challenges (e.g., ad hoc suspension of country loans). How to measure corruption and/or governance? Contentious – intellectually and politically. What government policies/actions are definitive evidence of progress on governance/corruption?
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Internal: Budgets for monitoring corruption in Bank projects significantly increased. Integrity Vice Presidency created (above and beyond usual corporate practice). External: Anti-corruption policies in countries: reduced emphasis. Significant attention to public sector financial management - much less to other aspects of country systems (bureaucracy/judiciary/police/etc). More attention to political economy (though ad hoc, not clearly actionable). Some loans still halted on ad hoc basis: Bangladesh Jamuna bridge. Still no consensus on measuring/conditioning on corruption/governance.
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Research: Corruption IS a by-product of over- arching political economy. Underlying political dynamics simultaneously influence : Rent-seeking Conversion of public resources into public benefits/public goods. Implications: Where political incentives are friendly to corruption ALL development efforts are hard to implement. Above all, though, anti-corruption policies won’t be enforced; Public sector financial management reforms less likely to succeed
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To mid-1990s: Reasonable to assume that corrupt behavior a “by- product” of development. An error to ignore governance/political economy roots of development. Mid-1990s to mid-2000s Key and important innovation to start paying attention to governance/political economy. But disconnect in emphasis on anti-corruption reforms without an integrated strategy to address governance/political economy obstacles to development.
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Conditioning loans on corruption a reasonable expression of moral indignation. But... An incomplete development strategy. Is donor influence strong enough such that conditionality on governance leads to governance improvement? Research ambiguous: We don’t know if fiscal crisis/necessity (the source of efficacy of conditionality) spurs political reform.
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Measurement agenda: tension between policy and research Gov’ts to Researchers: how can we improve governance scores? Res to Gov: Governance is about responsiveness to citizen interests! But – how to measure responsiveness? focus on corruption, or government responsiveness to citizens, or citizen ability to act collectively to influence government, or simply policy performance?
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Extractive industries (EITI) What we care about is: natural resources turned into public benefits. EITI accomplishes this only if information is the missing link in government accountability. In many cases – not the case. Ignores the alternative solution: keep the stuff in the ground; lump sum transfers.
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WB expenditures on WB integrity is a response to external pressures... but development impact? Less specific attention to country corruption, per se, consistent with research. But huge attention to PFM – not supported by research. More attention to political economy – consistent with research. But still little systematic integration of governance/political economy into development strategies.
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What to do in countries that exhibit severe governance problems? Corruption? Governance generally? Fragile states? These countries are the ones where development challenges – poverty, misery – are the greatest. The biggest tool that donors have is money. But these are the countries where government action least likely to improve development outcomes.
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Governance = no accountability to citizens. Fundamental issue in accountability: ability of citizens to act collectively. In weak governance countries: Political parties underdeveloped. Efforts to organize are undermined. Removing obstacles to collective action a donor priority? Remove obstacles to formation of civil society organizations (Tunisia). Community-driven development. Not easy – we need research here!
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Focus on corruption as a development issue has waxed and waned. Growing understanding that political incentives underlie corruption – and poor public sector performance, generally. Implication: “supply-side” interventions (anti- corruption, PFM reforms) unlikely to succeed. More effort needed on “demand-side” – increasing citizen ability to (act collectively to) hold government accountable.
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