I’ve been reading Poor Economics by Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo recently. Review to follow, but one of things that caught my eye were the occasional stories about corruption. It’s not a big theme in the book, but I thought I’d mention it. We hear plenty about corruption, but rarely hear successful strategies for fighting […]
Tag Archives: corruption
Write to your MEP about mining transparency
A few weeks ago I wrote about Tearfund’s Unearth the Truth campaign, which calls for transparency in the extractive industries in developing countries. Unless mining companies are forced to disclose how much they pay for mining rights, people have no way to keep the government accountable. Revenues from mining or drilling can vanish, and local […]
Unearthing the truth about mining rights
After yesterday’s post on corruption at the micro level, I thought it might be interesting to look at it at the macro level. (Thanks to Ben for the suggestion.) Ipaidabribe works by getting lots of ordinary citizens to record the small bribes they have had to pay in the course of their everyday business. That’s […]
I paid a bribe in Kenya
Growing up in Madagascar and Kenya, I became rather familiar with corruption. Demands for bribes crept into the most everyday of activities, from picking up parcels at the post office, to getting a prescription, or connecting a phone line to the house. Policemen would stop cars at random and tell the drivers their papers were […]
I paid a bribe: the wiki approach to fighting corruption
Here’s something I heard on the radio yesterday and found rather inspiring. A website in India has harnessed the power of the citizen reporting to fight endemic corruption, through a website called Ipaidabribe.com. The website provides people with an opportunity to anonymously report where and when they were forced to pay a bribe. For example, […]
The Department for International Development… of British business
“And let no-one be in any doubt whatsoever: a zero-tolerance approach to corruption” said international development secretary Andrew Mitchell at the Conservative conference early this year. If he meant it, he should fire himself immediately. British cocoa company Armajaro Holdings was recently banned from activity in Ghana after allegations that cocoa was being smuggled out […]
12 years later, Britain’s first foreign bribery prosecution
Among the many notable items of news last week, you might have missed this one. The first prosecution of a business for bribery overseas has finally gone ahead. It’s been 12 years since Britain signed up to the Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Officials in International Business Transactions. The agreement recognised that bribery has […]
Closing down the tax havens
Tax is a dirty word to many of us. It represents the grasping hands of governments. We resent taxation and feel burdened by it. We shouldn’t. At least, not usually. Tax is one of the few mechanisms of redistribution that works. When implemented progressively, it serves not just to pay for public services, but to […]
Time to close the loopholes in the corruption laws
Hot on the heels of Transparency International’s rebuke a couple of weeks ago, the UK’s record on fighting corruption is in question again. This time it is the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, who are ”disappointed and seriously concerned with the unsatisfactory implementation of the Convention by the UK.” The Convention in question is the […]
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