The flipside of corruption: State comparisons in India using public service delivery measures

Originally published on GI-ACE Understanding where corruption is high and why is a difficult task mainly because of the difficulties in measuring corruption. Given the well-documented problems with perceptions of corruption, recent literature has focused on objective measures of corruption. Focusing on the delivery of public services, a reliable measure could be the irregularities detected…

India’s federal procurement data infrastructure

Originally published on GI-ACE by Isabelle Adam  In a previous blog, we explored some common problems data scientists encounter when collecting and analyzing data. In the accompanying Red Flags Explainer, we drew on our experience of building and analysing datasets of government procurement over the past ten years to answer some Frequently Asked Questions about our work,…

Is positive recognition an incentive to fight corruption?

Originally published on GI-ACE by Paul Bukuluki  One reason that corruption is difficult to address is because it manifests differently depending on social expectations in different economic, political, administrative, social, and cultural contexts. In Uganda, corruption remains widespread and represents a major obstacle to the country’s development. Robust anti-corruption legislation and institutions have been put…

Informal practices and informal (governing) networks

Originally published on GI-ACE by Scott Newton  The Central Asia prong of our research has been examining the interplay and dynamics between informal governing networks and the formal legal–institutional system—the rules and procedures (and the way they operate) that formally structure and organise everything from government and the bureaucracy (including the justice sector and judiciary) to companies…

Barriers for small-scale traders in Kenya: Exploring women’s challenges on International Women’s Day

Originally published on GI-ACE by Melissa Trimble, Alissa Krueger, Veronica Akaezuwa, and Shruti Manian International Women’s Day on March 8 allows us the opportunity to reflect on the status of women’s rights across the globe. As a research team from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs that is part of the Global Integrity…

Fresh perspectives on the effectiveness of anti-corruption law enforcement in Nigeria

Originally published on GI-ACE Nigeria’s anti-corruption law enforcement efforts are gradually growing more effective as practitioners adapt and innovate in response to many persistent challenges. Sometimes caricatured as sclerotic, politicized, or error-prone, high-level anti-corruption efforts are becoming noticeably more innovative and pragmatic. Instead of being abandoned under pressure or resulting in decade-long, quixotic prosecutions, high-profile…