1. John Pantzalis Lorrie McGovern Saint Leo University

2.  “I either want less corruption or more chance to participate in it” Ashleigh Brilliant  Corruption is hard to measure because it involves a wide and diverse set of activities  It is also based on culture-specific standards of ethics, thus making it impossible to create a valid global measurement instrument

3.  Two most widely used measurements of corruption are:  The Transparency International Corruption Perception Index (CPI)  The World Bank Control of Corruption Indicator Both have certain advantages and disadvantages and are subject to the limitations listed previously. Both are composite indicators capturing several factors.

4.  Transparency International measures and ranks 174 countries in the world annually based on its index  The index is captured in a score between 0- 100  The higher the score, the less corrupt the country

5.  1. Denmark 92 points  2. New Zealand 91 points  3. Finland 89 points  4. Sweden 87 points  5. Norway 86 points

6.  6. Switzerland 86 points  7. Singapore 84 points  8. Netherlands 83 points  9. Luxemburg 82 points  10. Canada 81 points  The USA is ranked 17 th with 74 points

7.  165. Eritrea 18 points  166. Libya 18 points  167. Uzbekistan 18 points  168. Turkmenistan 17 points  169. Iraq 16 points

8.  170. South Sudan 15 points  171. Afghanistan 12 points  172. Sudan 11 points  173. North Korea 8 points  174. Somalia 8 points

9.  Corruption ideally should be measured by combining input-based and output-based indicators  Input-based indicators can be captured by looking at the existence of anti-corruption laws, institutions, rules, and norms. They are relatively easier to assess  Output-based indicators are based on looking at the impact of corruption in the economy, politics, and quality of life. They are much harder to assess and measure.

10.  Corruption is linked to lower economic performance  Transparency International has shown how a higher corruption index correlates with lower economic growth  One of the difficulties is that sometimes corruption can be the cause of economic stagnation (Venezuela is a likely candidate), but some other times it can be that economic stagnation due to other factors such as war can cause increased corruption (Libya is a likely candidate)

11.  Overall, most political scientists and economists agree that corruption has a negative impact on the:  Economy  Education  Public health  Environment  Democracy and individual freedom  Justice and human rights

12.  One way to conceptualize corruption is to look at it as a systematic violation of rules, laws, and norms of ethical behavior for the purpose of personal gain  Corruption benefits the practitioners (insiders) at the cost of the law-abiding outsiders  In that sense it can be modelled as a zero-sum game, or even as a negative-sum game given corruption’s negative impact on overall economic performance.

13.  Petty Corruption  It is corruption at the personal level, in every day kind of interactions  Street level, involves small amounts of money and favors  Interactions of citizens with low-level public servants/officials  Grand Corruption  It is corruption at the high levels of political, and economic life  Involves large amounts of money and favors  Interactions among members of the political and economic elites

14.  Robert Klitgaard defined corruption as:  Corruption = (Monopoly of Power) + (discretion) – (Accountability)  In spite of a global improvement in living and educational standards, as well as in a higher number of democratic regimes, corruptions is still thriving  A key issue is to look at how corruption can be reduced, and how these efforts can be marketed to the key stakeholders.

15.  The posterchild of a modern, successful anti- corruption campaign is Singapore  British created the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau in 1951 after it was found out that the thieves who had hijacked a large opium shipment included high-ranked members of Singapore’s police  After independence, Lee Kuan Yew, the new leader imposed strict ethical and accountability rules. Within a generation Singapore was transformed to one of the least corrupt countries in the world.

16.  Singapore has several advantages in the anti- corruption campaign:  The political elite was not corrupt, or corruptible  The elite was committed to eliminating corruption  The British had already established the structures of efficient administration  Singapore is fairly small and homogeneous  Confucian values based on respect of authority made top-down strategies more likely to succeed.

17.  Corruption cannot be eliminated completely  The reason is that what we call “corruption” may be ingrained to human nature (“everybody does it”, Nooman 1984)  “Corruption creeps in like an odorless gas” (Chayes, 2015)  Best strategy is to focus on reducing the most damaging forms of corruption

18.  “Focus on harmful forms of corruption”, Wilson 1968  Grand corruption should be the focal point, not petty corruption  Corruption that is perceived as being most harmful by stakeholders is more likely to be combated best due to the likelihood of generating more support for reform

19.  Focus on “grand corruption”  Gain the support of the economic and political elite.  Minimize the role of outsiders. Foreign intervention can be used by corrupt elites as a way to position anti-corruption activities as violations of sovereignty

20.  Adjust marketing on local culture (I)  In western, advanced economies, promote anti- corruption as a way to improve efficiency, and justice.  These societies are more rule-based, so using abstract concepts to market corruption-reducing reforms can resonate with the population  Publicize outcomes of grand corruption cases and make an example of high level corrupt officials who have been caught (Singapore used this technique)

21.  Adjust for local culture (II)  Cultures where allegiance is first to family, clan and tribe need different way of promoting reform  Focus should be again on grand corruption at the high levels  Petty corruption will remain no matter what – only change will come through cultural evolution over several generations

22.  Adjust for local culture (III)  Anti-corruption should be promoted as benefiting people’s families and kids  Use concrete examples of impact on people’s lives with a focus on the next generation (“improve your kid’s lives and opportunities”)  Link anti-corruption activities to religious values and norms to add spiritual component and to gain support from religious authorities

23.  This is an ongoing project  Next step is to conduct a cross-cultural analysis of changes of corruption levels over time among two groups of countries: advanced post-industrial economies and developing nations  Eventually we plan to work together with local governments in several cities of different countries to apply and test the best methods

24.  Thomas Barfield (2010). Afghanistan: A Cultural and Political History. Princeton University Press  Sarah Chayes (2015). Thieves of State: Why Corruption Threatens Global Security. W. W. Norton and Company  Patrick Radden Keefe (2015). “Corruption and Revolt”, The New Yorker, January 19, 2015

25.  Robert Klitgaard (1991). Controlling Corruption. University of California Press  John Nooman (1984). Bribes: The Intellectual History of a Moral Idea. University of California Press  James Wilson (1968). “Corruption is not Always Scandalous”, Time Magazine, April 28, pp.54-63