[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":363},["ShallowReactive",2],{"news-claudia-baez-camargos-quick-guide-to-social-norms-and-corruption-996":3,"news-claudia-baez-camargos-quick-guide-to-social-norms-and-corruption-996-similar":99,"i-heroicons:arrow-left-20-solid":358},[4],{"id":5,"status":6,"date_created":7,"date_updated":8,"title":9,"type":10,"body":11,"date":12,"topic":13,"slug":15,"activity":16,"nid":20,"topics":21,"activities":23,"programme":24,"area":24,"websites":25,"language":24,"image":27,"translation_of":24,"countries":36,"tags":61,"authors":78,"images":96,"translations":97,"content":98},9813,"published","2022-05-26T22:56:02.000Z","2026-05-29T22:21:57.000Z","Claudia Baez Camargo’s quick guide to social norms and corruption","Blog","_This quick guide draws on a [more comprehensive blog](https:\u002F\u002Fwww.globalintegrity.org\u002F2019\u002F09\u002F04\u002Fsocialnorms\u002F) by Claudia Baez Camargo published on the website of the Global Integrity Anti-Corruption Evidence (GI-ACE) research programme._ _Find more details on the GI-ACE anti-corruption research projects led by Dr Baez Camargo’s team at the Basel Institute on Governance, as well as other pioneering research on social norms and implications for anti-corruption practice, at the end of this guide._\n\n### What is a social norm?\n\nLike many abstract concepts it is slippery, but a good definition is that of Church and Chigas (2019): social norms are “mutual expectations held by members of a group about the right way to behave in a particular situation”. For an everyday example, think of your workplace. You and your colleagues expect each other to behave in a certain way in shared office spaces, at meetings, during joint projects, etc. These unspoken expectations are social norms, and you may not even realise that they exist – until somebody breaks them.\n\n### How do social norms drive and perpetuate corrupt behaviour?\n\nIf most people believe acts of corruption are accepted and expected by those around them, it is not difficult to see why corruption persists. Say you grew up and live in a community where public officials routinely demand bribes and your family and friends routinely pay them without questioning whether it is right or wrong to do so.  You would probably find it hard to even recognise that this behaviour might be corrupt and unfair, never mind stand up against it.\n\n### The case of health facilities in East Africa\n\nIn a [recent research project](https:\u002F\u002Fwww.baselgovernance.org\u002Fpublications\u002Fcorruption-social-norms-and-behaviours-comparative-assessment-rwanda-tanzania-and) in East Africa, we found that users of public health facilities often offer unsolicited bribes and gifts in order to create a relationship with the provider. The expectation is that having a “provider friend” helps facilitate access to treatment. This is perhaps no surprise when you think about the queues, waiting times and shortage of essential medicines and medical supplies at many of these public health facilities. Now comes the first interesting question: is a social norm underpinning this behaviour?\n\n### How to identify social norms that drive corrupt behaviour\n\nFirst, let’s distinguish between four related concepts:*   Personal attitudes: What an individual believes is appropriate behaviour in a particular situation, e.g. a health worker believes that it is wrong to accept a gift from a patient.\n*   Descriptive social norms: Beliefs about what others do, e.g. the health worker believes that her colleagues routinely accept gifts from patients.\n*   Injunctive social norms: Beliefs about what behaviours others approve or disapprove of, e.g. the health worker believes that most of her colleagues think it is fine to accept gifts from patients.\n*   Behaviours: What people actually do when confronted with that situation, e.g. the health worker accepts or rejects a gift from a patient.\nYou can see that social norms (2 and 3) are different from both personal attitudes (1) and from actual behaviours (4). Which makes them difficult to measure. The trick is to look for an informal _enforcement_ component – i.e. when people who behave in a particular way are rewarded (e.g. reputation, friendships, smiles) and those who break the norm are punished (e.g. social isolation, gossiping, frowns). Back to our research project in East Africa: during field research in Tanzania, we found that bribery and gift-giving is widespread, expected and accepted in public health facilities by both patients and providers. Those who refuse to give or accept bribes and gifts suffer social costs such as gossiping and bad-mouthing. The exchange of gifts and bribes at public health facilities in Tanzania is therefore a social norm.\n\n### What are the implications for anti-corruption practice?\n\nIf social norms are driving corrupt behaviour, then anti-corruption measures that only target individual incentives and behaviours are unlikely to work. They ignore the overpowering social pressures generated by these collective beliefs. And they ignore the fact that social norms are often unconscious and not a result of deliberate cost-benefit calculations. The implications for anti-corruption practice are therefore huge.\n\n### The million-dollar question\n\n…is of course, how to design anti-corruption interventions to identify social norms that fuel and perpetuate corruption, measure them and tackle them. This is exactly what we are doing in the GI-ACE-funded project, [Addressing Bribery in the Tanzanian Health Sector: A Behavioural Approach](https:\u002F\u002Fwww.globalintegrity.org\u002Fproject\u002Fgi-ace-basel\u002F), together with co-investigators Dr. Richard Sambaiga (University of Dar es Salaam), Prof. Tobias Stark (University of Utrecht) and Ms Ruth Persian (UK Behavioural Insights Team). We hope that the results of our pilot intervention in Tanzania will be valuable in informing anti-corruption interventions in public health sectors worldwide. As well as – why not! – all cases of corrupt behaviour where social norms have a major role to play.\n\n### Find out more\n\n*   View Claudia Baez Camargo’s blog on the GI-ACE website: [_Working with social norms to develop effective anti-corruption interventions_](https:\u002F\u002Fwww.globalintegrity.org\u002F2019\u002F09\u002F04\u002Fsocialnorms\u002F)\n*   Learn about the Basel Institute’s recent [research projects and findings](https:\u002F\u002Fwww.baselgovernance.org\u002Fpublic-governance\u002Fresearch-projects).\n*   See current projects and publications on [social norms and corruption](https:\u002F\u002Fwww.baselgovernance.org\u002Fpublic-governance\u002Fresearch-projects\u002Fsocial-norms).\n*   Read about a separate GI-ACE research project led by the Basel Institute on [Harnessing Informality: Designing Anti-Corruption Network Interventions and Strategic Use of Legal Instruments](https:\u002F\u002Fwww.baselgovernance.org\u002Fnews\u002Fharnessing-informality-promote-integrity-and-design-better-anti-corruption-programmes-new).\n*   [Download a PDF of this quick guide.](https:\u002F\u002Fwww.baselgovernance.org\u002Fsites\u002Fdefault\u002Ffiles\u002F2020-08\u002Fqg10_social_norms.pdf)","2019-09-04",[14],"Public Governance","claudia-baez-camargos-quick-guide-to-social-norms-and-corruption-996",[17,18,19],"Research","Insights","Anti-corruption interventions",996,[22],"Corruption Prevention and Public Governance",[17,18,19],null,[26],"Main page",{"id":28,"storage":29,"filename_disk":30,"filename_download":31,"title":9,"type":32,"created_on":7,"modified_on":7,"charset":24,"filesize":33,"width":34,"height":35,"duration":24,"embed":24,"description":24,"location":24,"tags":24,"metadata":24,"focal_point_x":24,"focal_point_y":24,"tus_id":24,"tus_data":24,"uploaded_on":7},"f63ef44a-3aa7-4488-8ce4-ca57a40bbfd5","local","f63ef44a-3aa7-4488-8ce4-ca57a40bbfd5.webp","tmp.webp","image\u002Fwebp",15416,800,533,[37],{"id":38,"news_id":39,"countries_id":55},6528,{"id":5,"status":6,"user_created":40,"date_created":7,"user_updated":41,"date_updated":8,"title":9,"type":10,"body":11,"image":28,"date":12,"topic":42,"slug":15,"activity":43,"nid":20,"topics":44,"activities":45,"programme":24,"area":24,"websites":46,"translation_of":24,"language":24,"countries":47,"tags":48,"authors":50,"images":52,"translations":53,"content":54},"03bebfd8-0b40-4a2a-820d-b9d9c13b9de6","3d9ff205-1640-4f34-b5b6-86977f51bbd6",[14],[17,18,19],[22],[17,18,19],[26],[38],[49],4416,[51],882,[],[],[],{"id":56,"name":57,"code":58,"latitude":59,"longitude":60},224,"Tanzania","TZ",-6.36903,34.88882,[62],{"id":49,"news_id":63,"tags_id":75},{"id":5,"status":6,"user_created":40,"date_created":7,"user_updated":41,"date_updated":8,"title":9,"type":10,"body":11,"image":28,"date":12,"topic":64,"slug":15,"activity":65,"nid":20,"topics":66,"activities":67,"programme":24,"area":24,"websites":68,"translation_of":24,"language":24,"countries":69,"tags":70,"authors":71,"images":72,"translations":73,"content":74},[14],[17,18,19],[22],[17,18,19],[26],[38],[49],[51],[],[],[],{"id":76,"name":77},848,"Behavioural science",[79],{"id":51,"news_id":80,"authors_id":92},{"id":5,"status":6,"user_created":40,"date_created":7,"user_updated":41,"date_updated":8,"title":9,"type":10,"body":11,"image":28,"date":12,"topic":81,"slug":15,"activity":82,"nid":20,"topics":83,"activities":84,"programme":24,"area":24,"websites":85,"translation_of":24,"language":24,"countries":86,"tags":87,"authors":88,"images":89,"translations":90,"content":91},[14],[17,18,19],[22],[17,18,19],[26],[38],[49],[51],[],[],[],{"id":93,"name":94,"position":24,"image":95},295,"Claudia Baez Camargo","efaca248-6b57-4e2e-af40-614056eb022c",[],[],[],[100,131,158,195,222,245,275,299,330],{"id":101,"body":102,"status":6,"type":10,"date":103,"slug":104,"title":105,"image":106,"countries":107,"topic":24,"activity":24,"tags":108,"nid":24,"topics":109,"activities":113,"authors":115,"images":117,"websites":118,"area":119,"programme":122,"language":124,"translations":125,"translation_of":24,"user_created":126,"date_created":127,"user_updated":41,"date_updated":128,"content":129,"link":130},10590,"This feature appears in the 2025 Basel AML Index Public Edition report. \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Findex.baselgovernance.org\u002Fdownloads\">Download the full report and related resources\u003C\u002Fa>.\n\n\u003Cblockquote>\n\u003Ch3>Key takeaways\u003C\u002Fh3>\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cstrong>Understanding national risks linked to virtual assets is now essential\u003C\u002Fstrong>, as their use has moved from niche to mainstream and is increasingly exploited for financial crime. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cstrong>Risk assessments are inherently challenging \u003C\u002Fstrong>as (a) virtual assets are borderless by design, (b) large parts of the ecosystem fall outside regulation and (c) reliable national-level data remains limited. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cstrong>Illicit activity involving virtual assets does not take place in isolation\u003C\u002Fstrong>: offenders exploit the same weaknesses – corruption, fraud, weak supervision and poor enforcement – that already undermine the wider financial system. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cstrong>The Basel AML Index provides valuable indicators to assess both a jurisdiction’s structural vulnerabilities and its capacity to counter threats \u003C\u002Fstrong>related to financial crimes in general, including those related to virtual assets, even though it does not include a dedicated virtual assets risk indicator. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003C\u002Fblockquote>\n\n\u003Cem>Note: in this article we use the term virtual assets in line with the FATF’s \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.fatf-gafi.org\u002Fen\u002Ftopics\u002Fvirtual-assets.html\">definition\u003C\u002Fa> of “any digital representation of value that can be digitally traded, transferred or used for payment”. The terms crypto, cryptoassets, digital assets, digital currencies, etc. form part of this loose family, though they are often defined differently in different contexts – a factor that also complicates risk assessments and data analysis.\u003C\u002Fem>\n\n\u003Ch3>\u003Cstrong>Why assessing risks related to virtual assets matters \u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fh3>\n\nGovernments and private firms alike are under growing pressure to understand the risks associated with virtual assets. What was once a niche is becoming a mainstream part of financial markets and a common feature in all forms of financial crime.\n\nAs the virtual assets industry continues to mature, national authorities that lack a clear understanding of the risks find themselves on the back foot when drafting legislation, supervising market participants or countering financial crime.\n\nFor financial institutions, a clear picture of jurisdiction-level risk is essential for customer due diligence, transaction monitoring, calibrating controls and taking strategic decisions about where or where not to operate. Financial institutions that misjudge these risks leave themselves exposed to illicit finance, reputational harm and potential regulatory action.\n\n\u003Ch3>Why jurisdiction-level risk assessments are difficult\u003C\u002Fh3>\n\n\u003Ch4>1. A borderless system by design\u003C\u002Fh4>\n\nUnlike bank accounts or trust funds, virtual asset wallets or addresses do not have a meaningful jurisdictional location. There is no crypto equivalent of “a bank account in Switzerland”. A wallet can be accessed anywhere and may be controlled by a person or entity whose location is unknown or easily obscured. Large parts of the virtual asset ecosystem also fall outside the boundaries of traditional financial regulation. Self-hosted wallets, peer-to-peer transfers, decentralised finance (DeFi) protocols and informal over-the-counter (OTC) brokers create pockets of activity that are largely invisible. Any jurisdiction-level assessment will inevitably be incomplete.\n\nThe activities of virtual asset service providers (VASPs) further complicate matters. A VASP may be established in one jurisdiction while primarily serving customers in another. In the absence of harmonised legislation or cooperation among supervisors, many operate across numerous markets with minimal physical presence or regulatory engagement.\n\n\u003Ch4>2. Data is limited, patchy and uncertain\u003C\u002Fh4>\n\nReliable quantitative data on financial crime risks related to virtual assets at the national level is scarce. In addition to the issue of contrasting definitions and the technology’s borderless nature, several factors contribute to this lack.\n\nFirst, commercial blockchain analytics providers publish broad indicators of virtual asset adoption and estimates of illicit usage. These can be helpful for spotting trends but require careful interpretation. They rely on estimates and proxies, including web traffic to exchanges or intermediaries, and do not provide precise amounts or reliably distinguish licit from illicit activity.\n\nSecond, it is reasonable to assume that where adoption rises, illicit activity will also increase, simply because criminals use the same infrastructure as legitimate users. However, such relationships cannot be measured with confidence.\n\nThird, at the government level, many jurisdictions still lack a coordinated approach across authorities to collect, share and analyse statistics on money laundering and related financial crimes. In many jurisdictions, data on virtual assets is either not gathered consistently or not collected at all.\n\nWithout reliable data on virtual assets usage and risks, national risk assessments may become detached from real-world threats. The result: regulation and supervision that is either insufficient or unnecessarily burdensome.\n\n### How the Basel AML Index can be used\n\nFor the above reasons, the Basel AML Index does not offer a dedicated indicator for virtual assets. Nevertheless, the Index data is still useful because illicit activity involving virtual assets typically exploits the same underlying weaknesses that enable money laundering, corruption, fraud and other financial crimes in the traditional financial system. Where protections against fraud are weak, for example, where supervision is lacking or where enforcement of regulations is inconsistent or politically compromised, opportunities to misuse virtual assets for illegal purposes tend to expand.\n\n\u003Cblockquote>\n\u003Cstrong>Two components of risk \u003C\u002Fstrong>\n\nIn line with the holistic methodology of the Basel AML Index and most AML\u002FCFT risk assessment frameworks, evaluating jurisdiction-level risk related to virtual assets centres on two elements:\n\n\u003Cp>a) \u003Cem>vulnerability \u003C\u002Fem>to the illicit use of virtual assets; and b) \u003Cem>capacity to mitigate \u003C\u002Fem>and respond to these threats. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003C\u002Fblockquote>\n\n### Relevant indicators\n\nThe following graphic highlights indicators of the Basel AML Index that are relevant for assessing either \u003Cem>structural vulnerabilities \u003C\u002Fem>that illicit actors may exploit, or a jurisdiction’s \u003Cem>capacity to counter \u003C\u002Fem>threats. These can be viewed individually in the Expert Edition.\n\n![](https:\u002F\u002Fjam.baselgovernance.org\u002Fapi\u002Fassets\u002F7f446525-136f-4018-a322-8a4e8872f23b) *Indicators visible in the Basel AML Index Edition that are particularly relevant to assessing national risks relating to virtual assets.*\n\n\n#### FATF data\n\nUsing the Expert Edition Plus subscription and its quantitative analysis of the latest FATF mutual evaluation and follow-up reports, Basel AML Index users can gain rapid insights into whether a jurisdiction’s AML\u002FCFT framework provides it with the capacity to \u003Cem>counter threats \u003C\u002Fem>related to financial crimes generally, including those involving virtual assets. FATF Recommendations that may be highly relevant for this include:\n\n- R.15 (new technologies)\n- R.16 (payment transparency)\n- R.26 & 27 (regulation and supervision)\n- R.29–31 (law enforcement)\n- R.36–40 (international cooperation)\n\nAn additional useful source of information for jurisdiction-level risk assessments is the FATF’s \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.fatf-gafi.org\u002Fen\u002Fpublications\u002FFatfrecommendations\u002Ftargeted-update-virtual-assets-vasps-2025.html\">\u003Cem>2025 Targeted Update on Implementation of the FATF Standards on Virtual Assets and Virtual Asset Service Providers\u003C\u002Fem>\u003C\u002Fa>. This report summarises progress in implementing FATF Recommendation 15 by FATF members and additional jurisdictions with materially important global virtual asset activity. “Materially important” refers to the presence of large VASPs (accounting for more than 0.25 percent of global trading) and\u002For a large virtual asset user base.\n\n### Where to start\n\nFor jurisdictions at an early stage of assessing national risks related to virtual assets, the World Bank’s \u003Cem>\u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fopenknowledge.worldbank.org\u002Fentities\u002Fpublication\u002Fbb5a7475-ac52-4697-afdc-5f618a550623\">AML\u002FCFT National Risk Assessment on Virtual Assets and Virtual Asset Service Providers: Guidance Manual\u003C\u002Fa> \u003C\u002Fem>(published in October 2025) is a strong starting point. It covers both threats and vulnerabilities, as well as the effectiveness of mitigation measures.\n\nAdditional useful resources include:\n- \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fbaselgovernance.org\u002F9crc-crypto-regulation\">\u003Cstrong>Practical recommendations from regulators and supervisors\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fa>, developed at the 9th Global Conference on Criminal Finances and Cryptoassets, on understanding financial crime risks linked to virtual assets and designing effective regulatory and supervisory frameworks.\n- \u003Cstrong>Structured public–private partnerships\u003C\u002Fstrong>, such as the \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fefippp.eu\u002F\">Europol Financial Intelligence Sharing Public Private Partnership\u003C\u002Fa>, which offer opportunities to learn from peers and obtain early insights into emerging threats and financial crime typologies involving virtual assets.\n","2025-12-08","assessing-national-risks-related-to-virtual-assets","Assessing national risks related to virtual assets","https:\u002F\u002Fjam.baselgovernance.org\u002Fapi\u002Fassets\u002F78f8a1ec-bf8d-469a-ab92-228e79ddd8f2?width=1000&height=650&format=webp&quality=80",[],[],[110,111,112,22],"Anti-Money Laundering","Asset Recovery and Enforcement","Business Integrity Ethics and Compliance",[114,17],"Basel AML Index",[116],1365,[],[114],[120,121],"Asset Recovery & Enforcement","Business Integrity & Governance",[123],"International Centre for Asset Recovery","English",[],"545a204d-e41b-4882-afda-481ecf3fd971","2025-12-05T11:43:36.000Z","2026-05-29T22:22:39.000Z",[],"\u002Fresources\u002Fnews\u002Fassessing-national-risks-related-to-virtual-assets",{"id":132,"body":133,"status":6,"type":134,"date":135,"slug":136,"title":137,"image":138,"countries":139,"topic":140,"activity":143,"tags":146,"nid":147,"topics":148,"activities":150,"authors":151,"images":152,"websites":24,"area":24,"programme":24,"language":124,"translations":153,"translation_of":24,"user_created":40,"date_created":154,"user_updated":41,"date_updated":155,"content":156,"link":157},10573,"The Basel Institute’s first international postgraduate programme in anti-corruption has begun. 12 students from 11 countries across Africa, Europe and North America are taking part in the six-month course, led by Basel Institute staff and resulting in a Certificate of Advanced Studies from the University of Basel.\n\nThe course, [Mastering Today’s Anti-Corruption Challenges](https:\u002F\u002Fbaselgovernance.org\u002Flearning\u002Fbasel-study\u002Fcas-anti-corruption), equips mid-career professionals with the tools, skills and networks to address corruption and governance challenges in their work.\n\nLead instructor Dr Claudia Baez Camargo, Director of the Institute’s Prevention, Research and Innovation team, explained:\n\n> Through this programme, participants will not only deepen their understanding of corruption in today’s complex world, but also learn to evaluate the real evidence on what works. Most importantly, they will be empowered to apply these insights with confidence in their own countries and professional contexts, helping to strengthen integrity and good governance where it matters most.\n\n### Shaping the next generation of anti-corruption leaders\n\nThree participants attended the opening event on 26–27 September in person in Basel, while those unable to travel joined the sessions online.\n\nThe first cohort is made up of peers with diverse academic backgrounds – including legal, economic, political and other disciplines – and professional experience in the public, private and civil society sectors, in multilateral organisations and the media.\n\nThey were welcomed by the Basel Institute’s President Peter Maurer and Executive Director Betsy Andersen, together with the Basel STUDY team and instructors.\n\nVisits to the University of Basel and the historic centre gave participants and instructors the chance to bond while exploring Swiss traditions.\n\nThe participants who attended the launch in person described themselves as:\n\n> “excited”, “grateful” and “honoured”.\n\nAsked what she hoped to get out of the course, Tamara Lee, a Business Analyst and Project Manager from Ireland, said:\n\n> I hope I’ll learn to see corruption issues with a sharper, more professional lens. Instead of falling back on the usual buzzwords or the kind of surface-level ideas we see on social media or hear in conversations, I’d like to be able to look at situations in a deeper, more critical way.\n\nDr Ramadhani Marijani, a Senior Lecturer and Researcher at Tanzania’s University of Dodoma, added: \n\n> I hope I can be able to resolve anti-corruption challenges from an African perspective and understand other challenges in the global sphere. I am looking forward to engaging in classes, sharing and learning from other fellow participants from Africa and other countries and from the community of practice fighting the war against corruption globally.\n\nIlinca-Ioana Bīlc, Legal Advisor at a bank in Romania, emphasised her desire to explore a holistic approach to anti-corruption: \n\n> I want to know how I can fight \\[corruption\\] from different angles besides the basic one that everyone expects: you just follow the guidelines and then there will be no corruption. When in fact, the problem is much bigger and we need way more different ways of tackling it. \n\n### Exploring corruption’s links to today’s greatest challenges\n\nSaturday’s classroom sessions with Dr Saba Kassa explored how corruption connects to today’s greatest concerns, from shifting geopolitics and democratic backsliding to migration and climate change. This sets the foundation for modules delivered in live online sessions over the next six months and covering:\n\n*   How corruption and governance impact states, societies and organisations.\n*   The fundamentals of anti-corruption practice, from legal instruments to effective enforcement and prevention.\n*   Novel approaches to anti-corruption, drawing on political and behavioural sciences.\n*   How anti-corruption strategies are implemented internationally – and how they could be made more effective.\n\nStudents will apply their knowledge through a personal study project on a corruption challenge of their choice.\n\n### Scholarship fund opens doors to global talent\n\nSeveral participants benefited from tuition support thanks to generous donors to the [Gretta Fenner Scholarship Fund](https:\u002F\u002Fbaselgovernance.org\u002Flearning\u002Fbasel-study\u002Fscholarship).\n\nThe fund supports applicants from lower-income backgrounds who show strong commitment to anti-corruption, transparency and good governance. It reflects the vision of the Basel Institute’s late Managing Director Gretta Fenner to educate and empower anti-corruption leaders everywhere, regardless of financial means.\n\nOne recipient is Nigerian lawyer Emmanuela OkonkwoAbutu of the Abuja-based African Centre for Governance, Asset Recovery and Sustainable Development. She shared:\n\n> This prestigious study programme... offers a forum to learn from professionals who are influencing the global conversation on anti-corruption… This educational journey would not have been possible without the support of the Gretta Fenner Scholarship Fund.\n\nWe are grateful to The International Academy of Financial Crime Litigators, the Academy’s co-founders Elizabeth Ortega (ECO Strategic Communications), Stéphane Bonifassi (Bonifassi Avocats) and Lincoln Caylor (Bennett Jones), as well as Swiss law firm Kellerhals Carrard for their generous donations to the Fund.\n\n### Expanding opportunities through Basel STUDY\n\n[Basel STUDY](https:\u002F\u002Fbaselgovernance.org\u002Flearning\u002Fbasel-study) – the Basel Institute’s postgraduate programme initiative – is designed to boost the knowledge, skills and careers of professionals committed to countering corruption and financial crime.\n\nIt builds on the Institute’s long-standing capacity-building approach, encouraging peer learning, hands-on practice and real-life cases. The two available Certificate of Advanced Studies programmes combine this practitioner-led spirit with the academic rigour of the University of Basel.\n\nThe second course, [_Combating_ _Financial Crime Through Asset Recovery_](https:\u002F\u002Fbaselgovernance.org\u002Flearning\u002Fbasel-study\u002Fcas-asset-recovery), starts in February 2026. Applications remain open for self-funded or employer-funded participants.\n\n### Learn more\n\n*   Explore other learning opportunities at the Basel Institute, including free eLearning courses on [Basel LEARN](https:\u002F\u002Flearn.baselgovernance.org\u002F), our four-day course on [crypto, financial crime and AML compliance](https:\u002F\u002Fbaselgovernance.org\u002Fcrypto-aml-training), and our flagship [asset recovery training programmes](https:\u002F\u002Fbaselgovernance.org\u002Fasset-recovery\u002Ftraining-programmes) for law enforcement agencies.\n*   Learn about the [Gretta Fenner Scholarship Fund](https:\u002F\u002Fbaselgovernance.org\u002Flearning\u002Fbasel-study\u002Fscholarship) – and consider donating to help change lives and create impact!","News","2025-09-29","global-professionals-begin-new-anti-corruption-studies-2851","Global professionals begin new anti-corruption studies","https:\u002F\u002Fjam.baselgovernance.org\u002Fapi\u002Fassets\u002Fbe4b8143-bba3-4760-8f60-d11dcedc3f7b?width=1000&height=650&format=webp&quality=80",[],[141,142],"Prevention"," Research and Innovation",[144,145],"Courses","Training",[],2851,[22,149],"Prevention Research and Innovation",[144,145],[],[],[],"2025-09-29T16:01:39.000Z","2026-05-29T22:22:37.000Z",[],"\u002Fresources\u002Fnews\u002Fglobal-professionals-begin-new-anti-corruption-studies-2851",{"id":159,"body":160,"status":6,"type":10,"date":161,"slug":162,"title":163,"image":164,"countries":165,"topic":166,"activity":168,"tags":169,"nid":185,"topics":186,"activities":187,"authors":188,"images":190,"websites":24,"area":24,"programme":24,"language":124,"translations":191,"translation_of":24,"user_created":40,"date_created":192,"user_updated":41,"date_updated":155,"content":193,"link":194},10564,"_Our Senior Communications and External Relations Specialist Monica Guy looks back on how a curious mind paired with diverse learning opportunities and the desire to make an impact can pave the way into anti-corruption. This article is part of a series on careers in fighting financial crime and opportunities to learn and study with the Basel Institute._\n\nOne of the many things I’ve learned at the Basel Institute on Governance is that rewarding jobs in the field of countering financial crime are not just for those who woke up aged 10 and said: “Mummy, I want to be an anti-corruption prosecutor”. Or who studied business and law with the dream of becoming a compliance officer.\n\nMy own journey has been rather zig-zaggy, from caring for Stephen Hawking to managing multilingual content projects for Google and big companies in the travel and shipping industries. And a lot in between.\n\nEducation and continuous learning have been crucial in giving me the flexibility to bounce from one thing to another and hopefully make at least a tiny bit of impact on the way.\n\n### From dusty libraries to blended learning\n\nI didn’t learn much of practical use during my first degree in Classics at Cambridge. But it was a good way to learn to think, read, write and argue with clever people about the world with all its wonders and weirdness. That’s something I have to do a lot in my communications role at the Basel Institute, though thankfully not in ancient Greek.\n\nMy first master’s in interactive communications at Quinnipiac University was one of the earliest “blended learning” degree courses. I.e. hybrid classes and the (then) revolutionary idea that it’s better to learn the theory in advance and use precious class time to practise and discuss.\n\nWhat was in 2010 the cutting edge of communications now looks like stone-age cave paintings. But it did give me the basics to start building websites (early web design = animated cave paintings) and think a bit more strategically about things like audience, purpose and how communications and social media tactics can be used for good or ill. That has been of real practical value in our efforts to build the Basel Institute’s visibility and reputation over the last years.\n\n### Digging deeper (but I wish Basel STUDY had existed then)\n\nYou can’t be successful in communicating if you don’t understand what you’re talking about. So during covid times I took another master’s course, this time in sustainable development at SOAS University of London. I wanted that deeper understanding of topics like poverty, globalisation and environment that are fundamental to the work the Basel Institute does.\n\nThis degree was fully online and designed to fit alongside a full-time job. But I’ll be honest: if our [Basel STUDY](https:\u002F\u002Fbaselgovernance.org\u002Fstudy) courses had existed then, I’d have gladly taken them instead.\n\nBasel STUDY – that's our postgraduate programmes with the University of Basel: they are six months, hands-on, with live classes and in-person meetings, top-notch instructors and a diverse group of other participants with real-world experience. That’s a lot more fun, useful and digestible than a two-year master's degree, plus easier to combine with other modules and qualifications.\n\n### Free or low-cost learning\n\nI absolutely know that I’ve been privileged to be able to study at good universities, with grants and jobs to pay the way.\n\nBut I’ve also learned a lot through MOOCs (Massive Online Open Courses) and other free or low-cost online learning opportunities from organisations like Coursera and the University of Leiden. And of course the crème de la crème of eLearning: our own free [Basel LEARN courses](https:\u002F\u002Flearn.baselgovernance.org\u002F) on countering financial crime.\n\n### A desire to learn\n\nAll this to say that you don’t need to be a “financial crime professional” to play a part in making the world a better place.\n\nJust as you don’t need to be a “communications professional” to communicate effectively about countering corruption, fostering good governance, catalysing asset recovery and all the other difficult but worthwhile things we do here in Basel and around the world.\n\nWhat you do need is a desire to learn – from courses, peers and colleagues.\n\n### Join in\n\nMy “call to action”? Take a look at the opportunities we offer at the Basel Institute for individuals who also burn to learn about countering corruption and financial crime and build practical skills they can apply in their daily work:\n\n*   [Basel LEARN](https:\u002F\u002Flearn.baselgovernance.org\u002F) – our online training and learning hub with free eLearning courses and lots more\n*   [Basel STUDY](https:\u002F\u002Fbaselgovernance.org\u002Fstudy) – our new academic programmes with the University of Basel on anti-corruption and asset recovery\n*   Our forthcoming open course on [Introduction to blockchain: crypto investigation and AML compliance](https:\u002F\u002Fbaselgovernance.org\u002Fcrypto-aml-training)","2025-06-26","not-just-for-lawyers-learning-your-way-into-anti-corruption-2822","Not just for lawyers: learning your way into anti-corruption","https:\u002F\u002Fjam.baselgovernance.org\u002Fapi\u002Fassets\u002F99b2b185-92d4-46cc-8c21-6b0c8f20cf39?width=1000&height=650&format=webp&quality=80",[],[167],"",[18],[170,174,178,182],{"tags_id":171},{"id":172,"name":173},982,"Anti-corruption",{"tags_id":175},{"id":176,"name":177},867,"Financial crime",{"tags_id":179},{"id":180,"name":181},1300,"Education",{"tags_id":183},{"id":184,"name":145},1372,2822,[22],[18],[189],1346,[],[],"2025-07-13T11:42:47.000Z",[],"\u002Fresources\u002Fnews\u002Fnot-just-for-lawyers-learning-your-way-into-anti-corruption-2822",{"id":196,"body":197,"status":6,"type":134,"date":198,"slug":199,"title":200,"image":201,"countries":202,"topic":204,"activity":207,"tags":210,"nid":211,"topics":212,"activities":213,"authors":214,"images":215,"websites":216,"area":24,"programme":24,"language":24,"translations":217,"translation_of":24,"user_created":40,"date_created":218,"user_updated":41,"date_updated":219,"content":220,"link":221},10367,"Business integrity is vital to the health of the vibrant economies of the Asia-Pacific region, as well as of the companies based or seeking to do business in the region. Fostering trust and transparency through [Collective Action](https:\u002F\u002Fcollective-action.com\u002F) between stakeholders – local businesses, foreign investors, governments, civil society – is key to advancing a strong culture of business integrity, levelling the playing field and solving practical challenges that hold back fair business.\n\nBusiness integrity is one of the three pillars of the [Anti-Corruption Initiative for Asia and the Pacific (ACI)](https:\u002F\u002Fevents.development.asia\u002Flearning-events\u002Fanti-corruption-initiative-asia-and-pacific) of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The initiative was formed in 1999 to cooperate with governments in the fight against corruption and support national and multilateral efforts to reduce corruption in Asia and the Pacific. The ACI includes two additional pillars: Law Enforcement and Public Integrity.\n\nWe are delighted to have joined the ACI’s Advisory Group, alongside representatives from the Australian Attorney General's Office and Federal Police, Transparency International and UNODC among others. This marks an expansion of our role, building on our [Private Sector team](https:\u002F\u002Fbaselgovernance.org\u002Fprivate-sector)’s ongoing support to the ACI’s Working Group on Business Integrity launched in 2019.\n\n### 11th Regional Conference – exploring Collective Action\n\nThe ACI’s [11th Regional Conference](https:\u002F\u002Fevents.development.asia\u002Flearning-events\u002F11th-regional-conference-pandemic-recovery-building-resilient-economies-through) in Manila, Philippines, from 9–11 May was the first in-person meeting and conference since the Covid-19 pandemic, making it a valuable opportunity to map out pathways for future work. These will follow the Initiative’s mandate to support the 34 member governments in three core areas:\n\n*   Policy dialogue and sharing anti-corruption best practices at the regional meetings and conferences\n*   Policy analysis, including thematic reviews and stocktaking\n*   Corruption prevention and law enforcement capacity development activities\n\nAt a plenary on business integrity moderated by our Head of Private Sector Vanessa Hans, representatives from the Malaysia-based Business Integrity Alliance, Thai Collective Action Against Corruption and National Commission of Supervision of China explored how Collective Action can support prevention efforts in the region. The plenary was followed by a breakout session facilitated by Vanessa Hans in order to identify Collective Action initiatives in the region and share best practices.\n\nEmphasising the importance of the ACI due to its scope, reach and the involvement of so many motivated and knowledgeable professionals, Vanessa Hans said:\n\n> The ACI is a great platform for peer learning and showcasing of best practices in the anti-corruption community within Asia and the Pacific. Topics of business integrity and the benefits of anti-corruption Collective Action have been central to the discussions during the conference. We at the Basel Institute are honoured to be able to support this initiative. \n\n### Looking back\n\nOur support to the ACI’s Advisory Group looks back to the former role of our Managing Director Gretta Fenner as the founding Programme Manager of the ACI in 1999\u002F2000.\n\nAt that time, the group endorsed the first ever regional collaborative framework to combat corruption in the Asia-Pacific region (the Anti-Corruption Action Plan for Asia-Pacific). The group continued to lead innovation in the fight against corruption, for example in the immediate aftermath of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, when the ACI swiftly brought together governments, the private sector and civil society to address urgent corruption risks and prevention mechanisms in the tsunami reconstruction process. \n\nThis was a pioneering approach at a time when multistakeholder collaboration through Collective Action was still a novel concept.\n\n### Looking ahead\n\nWe look forward to continuing to support the ACI through the Advisory Group as we increase our anti-corruption work and partnerships in the region.\n\nSave the date, among other things, for our regional Collective Action Forum in the Philippines on 25 September 2023. This will follow a similar format to our [Southern Africa Collective Action Forum](https:\u002F\u002Fcollective-action.com\u002Fget-involved\u002Fevents) on 31 May 2023 and include a regional [award](https:\u002F\u002Fcollective-action.com\u002Fget-involved\u002Fawards) for an outstanding anti-corruption Collective Action initiative.\n\nQuestions? Ask our [Collective Action Helpdesk](https:\u002F\u002Fcollective-action.com\u002Fget-involved\u002Fhelpdesk).","2023-05-30","fostering-anti-corruption-in-asiapacific-through-collective-action-2456","Fostering anti-corruption in Asia–Pacific through Collective Action","https:\u002F\u002Fjam.baselgovernance.org\u002Fapi\u002Fassets\u002F83af013f-7599-4d69-bc8e-2ddadbe40481?width=1000&height=650&format=webp&quality=80",[203],7182,[205,206],"Collective Action","Private Sector",[208,209],"Events","International cooperation",[],2456,[205,206,22],[208,209],[],[],[26,205],[],"2023-05-30T16:01:25.000Z","2026-05-29T22:22:26.000Z",[],"\u002Fresources\u002Fnews\u002Ffostering-anti-corruption-in-asiapacific-through-collective-action-2456",{"id":223,"body":224,"status":6,"type":10,"date":225,"slug":226,"title":227,"image":228,"countries":229,"topic":230,"activity":231,"tags":232,"nid":233,"topics":234,"activities":235,"authors":236,"images":238,"websites":239,"area":24,"programme":24,"language":24,"translations":240,"translation_of":24,"user_created":40,"date_created":241,"user_updated":41,"date_updated":242,"content":243,"link":244},9595,"_During SDC Governance Week, a cross-agency learning event for staff and partners of the Governance network of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), the Basel Institute’s Public Governance team will speak about its support to the agency’s development of new strategic anti-corruption guidelines. The process of updating the guidelines aims to reflect evolving risks, emerging understandings of corruption and fresh evidence about effective approaches to anti-corruption interventions._ _In this quick guide, Claudia Baez Camargo, Head of the Basel Institute’s Public Governance team, explains the purpose, focus and value of strategic anti-corruption guidelines for development agencies:_\n\n### In what context do development agencies face corruption issues?\n\nIn their efforts to promote sustainable development around the world, development agencies and their country offices face a variety of corruption risks. Some risks directly threaten funded projects, for example if money intended to finance a new hospital is embezzled, or the building contract is given to the friend of a local politician and at an inflated value. Other corruption risks more indirectly, or at least less visibly, impact the ability of development agencies to achieve their project goals. For instance, if sextortion – the coercive extraction of sexual favours – is prevalent, it will undermine programmes aimed at promoting gender equality. And when corruption is a systemic issue, it hampers sustainable development directly and in multiple ways. Development agencies may therefore consider addressing systemic corruption issues strategically through a dedicated anti-corruption programme.\n\n### What is a “strategic” approach to anti-corruption?\n\nThe above three types of corruption risk that development agencies face often overlap and spring from the same underlying factors. These factors, or drivers, include the political economy and prevailing power relations in a country or community, as well as the social norms that influence people’s behaviour. A strategic approach to anti-corruption in a specific context will therefore always start with a good diagnosis that covers two broad areas:\n\n*   First, the major corruption issues in that country or context that are hindering sustainable development. For example, widespread petty corruption in the health sector or a flawed procurement system that sees inflated contracts going to political cronies.\n*   Second, the underlying drivers of those problems, such as social norms around the need to give “gifts” to health workers, or state capture through powerful networks of elites.\n\nStrategic approaches to anti-corruption will be based on this diagnosis and design projects that are – at the very least – relevant, feasible, sustainable and mindful of risks or unintended consequences.\n\n### Setting out an anti-corruption strategy in black and white – why?\n\nNot all development agencies have written guidelines setting out their strategic approach to anti-corruption. But they have multiple benefits. Their main purpose is to support the development of evidence-based and effective anti-corruption programming decisions. This makes targeted anti-corruption interventions more likely to succeed in their goals, to help the beneficiary communities in tangible ways and to be a good use of taxpayers’ money. By setting out their strategic anti-corruption approach in black and white, the agency leadership clearly signals which areas are important to focus on and how to go about it. This clear messaging is extremely useful for staff in country offices who face the task of identifying which programmes to fund and how best to design them. New staff joining the country office can quickly grasp not only which projects are being implemented and how, but also – very importantly – why. The consistent underlying approach also provides a solid base for learning from the experiences of peers in other country offices.\n\n### Developing the guidelines – a valuable collaborative exercise\n\nLike all strategic documents, the value is not only in the final product but in the process of developing it. What helps tremendously when developing anti-corruption guidelines is to convene a series of discussion groups that bring people from multiple units, disciplines and levels of hierarchy around the table. This is because corruption is a transversal issue, cutting across almost all other thematic areas and professional specialisms. It is not just a topic for the anti-corruption department and external anti-corruption experts, but needs to include the experiences, views and concerns of those working on the ground. Getting a broad range of inputs helps to make the guidelines more robust and reflective of the real challenges that country offices and programme managers face. The process also helps to get buy-in, which is crucial when it comes to implementation. An agile approach with multiple rounds is probably needed. At the Basel Institute, we typically also find it valuable for a partner anti-corruption organisation or expert to sense-check and challenge the drafts. It is worth taking this time to get the strategic guidelines right. This is because unlike hands-on operational guidance documents and tools that may evolve more rapidly, the strategic guidelines are approved at the highest levels of the agency and need to be built to last.\n\n### Turning strategy into practice – implementing the guidelines\n\nStrategic guidelines are not a recipe for what you should do, but a recipe for how you should think and what you should consider. How best can a development agency help staff turn that knowledge into practical action and avoid it getting lost in the heaps of paperwork that country offices inevitably have to deal with? A must-have is an operational guidance document that translates the guidelines into practical resources and tools. Additional short explainers on particular topics, like how to set up a useful monitoring and evaluation system on anti-corruption, are often helpful. But however user-friendly these documents are, they are the basis for discussion and not a substitute for it. Some ideas to encourage dialogue and active implementation are:\n\n*   Short training interventions, in which country staff have the opportunity to raise questions about their specific issues.\n*   Peer learning events on anti-corruption, to share experiences with colleagues and learn what’s working elsewhere.\n*   An on-demand support function for country staff to bounce ideas around and discuss doubts and concerns relating to anti-corruption.\n\n### Learn more\n\n*   Find out more about the [Public Governance](https:\u002F\u002Fbaselgovernance.org\u002Fpublic-governance) team and its research, training and technical assistance services.\n*   See the team’s dedicated resource site on [informal governance](https:\u002F\u002Fbaselgovernance.org\u002Fpublic-governance\u002Fresearch-projects\u002Finformal-governance) and its implications for the fight against corruption.\n*   [Download this quick guide as a PDF](https:\u002F\u002Fbaselgovernance.org\u002Fpublications\u002Fquick-guide-21-strategic-anti-corruption-guidelines-development-agencies) and [view all quick guides](https:\u002F\u002Fwww.baselgovernance.org\u002Fpublications?type=2428).","2021-06-08","quick-guide-to-strategic-anti-corruption-guidelines-for-development-agencies-2030","Quick guide to strategic anti-corruption guidelines for development agencies","https:\u002F\u002Fjam.baselgovernance.org\u002Fapi\u002Fassets\u002Fa0fa0dd2-78e0-4f03-8a88-be27e982eb93?width=1000&height=650&format=webp&quality=80",[],[14],[17,19],[],2030,[22],[17,19],[237],807,[],[26],[],"2022-05-26T22:53:01.000Z","2026-05-29T22:21:45.000Z",[],"\u002Fresources\u002Fnews\u002Fquick-guide-to-strategic-anti-corruption-guidelines-for-development-agencies-2030",{"id":246,"body":247,"status":6,"type":10,"date":248,"slug":249,"title":250,"image":251,"countries":252,"topic":254,"activity":256,"tags":257,"nid":264,"topics":265,"activities":266,"authors":267,"images":269,"websites":270,"area":24,"programme":24,"language":24,"translations":271,"translation_of":24,"user_created":40,"date_created":272,"user_updated":41,"date_updated":8,"content":273,"link":274},9812,"High-profile law enforcement operations against illegal wildlife trade (IWT), such as Interpol’s [Operation Thunderball](https:\u002F\u002Fwww.interpol.int\u002Fen\u002FNews-and-Events\u002FNews\u002F2019\u002FWildlife-trafficking-organized-crime-hit-hard-by-joint-INTERPOL-WCO-global-enforcement-operation) in July 2019 and the arrest of notorious trafficker [Moazu Kromah](https:\u002F\u002Fwww.cbsnews.com\u002Fnews\u002Fwildlife-heroin-trafficking-ring-africa-bust-southern-district-new-york-fish-and-wildlife\u002F) in Uganda in June, have drawn welcome attention to IWT as a financial and organised crime and not only a conservation issue. Yet in working to strengthen legal frameworks and law enforcement capacity in countries that suffer from high levels of IWT, we must not forget the social drivers and facilitators behind wildlife trafficking – factors that laws alone are powerless to change. This quick guide draws on a recent Basel Institute Working Paper on [Corruption and wildlife trafficking](https:\u002F\u002Fwww.baselgovernance.org\u002Fnews\u002Fnew-working-paper-corruption-and-illegal-wildlife-trade-east-africa), published in the context of a multi-disciplinary programme of work focused on financial crime in IWT.\n\n### Wildlife trafficking is a lucrative crime…\n\nIWT is sometimes described as a low-risk, high-reward business. In many source and transit countries in Southern and Eastern Africa, for example, rates of detection and arrests are low, prosecutions are rare and penalties are weak even for those caught red-handed. These low risks are offset against the high prices that traffickers can obtain by selling valuable illegal wildlife products such as ivory, rhino horn and pangolin scales to black markets mainly in Asia.\n\n### …yet it’s not just about money and the law\n\nA growing body of research supports the idea that behaviour is driven by a complex array of social, cultural and other behavioural factors. Illicit behaviour is thus not only the result of a cost-benefit analysis by individuals seeking personal economic gain. Nor, therefore, will it be solved by laws and law enforcement alone. International agreements such as [CITES](https:\u002F\u002Fcites.org\u002F), which regulates the global trade in wildlife, along with national efforts to strengthen the enforcement of formal regulations, are necessary but not sufficient. This is because they do not address the underlying social context that motivates individuals to engage in trafficking in the first place. With a better understanding of these factors, we will be better equipped to design effective interventions that influence the attitudes and behaviours of people directly involved in the early stages of IWT, as well as those who are indifferent or directly support them.\n\n### What drives people to engage in wildlife trafficking?\n\nBeyond purely economic factors, our preliminary research indicates three main beliefs that drive and justify individuals’ decisions to engage in wildlife crime. Firstly, that trafficking engenders wealth and status. The financial rewards of IWT allow poachers and traders to acquire more wealth than they can access through relying on the formal economy. The money trickles down through social and family networks to benefit the rest of the community. This raises their prestige and status in the community and simultaneously helps to legitimise the illegal behaviour. Secondly, there is often a belief that wildlife trafficking is a victimless crime. In many countries where humans and wild animals live in close proximity, animals are viewed as either sources of food or nuisances that destroy crops and threaten personal security. Widespread human-wildlife conflict can drive people to consider wildlife products as any other kind of commodity. This legitimises behaviours such as actively engaging in trafficking (on the side of the citizens) or facilitating trafficking by turning a blind eye (on the side of public officials). Thirdly, members of a community may consider they have a moral right to appropriate wildlife. Communities that have lost land to newly created (or colonial-era) safari parks and protected environmental zones may resist legislation protecting wildlife on the grounds that it criminalises a generations-old right to access and use wildlife.\n\n### How do socio-economic and political factors play a role?\n\nCommunities along the major wildlife trafficking routes in Africa generally suffer from poverty and limited employment opportunities. The constrained socio-economic context can drive otherwise law-abiding individuals, be it members of the community or local public officials, to assist in activities such as moving contraband from point A to point B. Poverty therefore sets the stage for both poaching and the trafficking of commodities across cities and countries. A thriving supply of illegal wildlife products is the result. Ironically, in demand countries on the other side of the globe, it is the increasing wealth of the middle and upper classes that is helping fuel the demand for these in the first place. The political context is also key to explaining how wildlife trafficking can take place with impunity. Poor governance, endemic corruption and constrained public institutions in source and transit countries are important facilitators of IWT. Even more worryingly, there are countless examples of militants and terrorist groups engaging in poaching and wildlife trafficking to fund their operations, from the Lord’s Resistance Army to the Janjaweed Arab militia of Sudan.\n\n### Drivers and facilitators are intertwined – and we need to understand both\n\nThe socio-economic and political context in which IWT takes place increases and facilitates the propensity for individuals to engage in trafficking. Social norms and beliefs help explain the underlying motivations and justifications individuals may adopt to actually engage in trafficking. We need to understand both a lot better if we want laws and law enforcement to stand a chance of effectively taking down the trafficking networks threatening our endangered animals and global biodiversity.\n\n### Learn more\n\n*   Learn more about the Basel Institute’s [social norms research](https:\u002F\u002Fwww.baselgovernance.org\u002Fpublic-governance\u002Fresearch-projects\u002Fsocial-norms).\n*   Read about how insights into social norms can be applied to prevent [bribery in the Tanzanian health sector](https:\u002F\u002Fwww.baselgovernance.org\u002Fblog\u002Fclaudia-baez-camargos-quick-guide-social-norms-and-corruption).\n*   Download the full Working Paper 30: [Corruption and wildlife trafficking: exploring drivers, facilitators and networks behind illegal wildlife trade in East Africa](https:\u002F\u002Fwww.baselgovernance.org\u002Fnews\u002Fnew-working-paper-corruption-and-illegal-wildlife-trade-east-africa).\n*   Read about the Basel Institute’s programme of work focused on [intelligence-led action against financial crime in IWT](https:\u002F\u002Fwww.baselgovernance.org\u002Fillegal-wildlife-trade).\n*   [Download a PDF of this quick guide.](https:\u002F\u002Fwww.baselgovernance.org\u002Fsites\u002Fdefault\u002Ffiles\u002F2020-08\u002Fqg11_drivers_iwt.pdf)","2019-09-06","saba-kassas-quick-guide-to-drivers-and-facilitators-of-wildlife-trafficking-997","Saba Kassa’s quick guide to drivers and facilitators of wildlife trafficking","https:\u002F\u002Fjam.baselgovernance.org\u002Fapi\u002Fassets\u002F712e0be9-042c-4216-8b3b-d5ea91cb6c48?width=1000&height=650&format=webp&quality=80",[253],6527,[255,14],"Green Corruption",[17,18],[258,262],{"tags_id":259},{"id":260,"name":261},1303,"Environment",{"tags_id":263},{"id":76,"name":77},997,[255,22],[17,18],[268],881,[],[26],[],"2022-05-26T22:56:01.000Z",[],"\u002Fresources\u002Fnews\u002Fsaba-kassas-quick-guide-to-drivers-and-facilitators-of-wildlife-trafficking-997",{"id":276,"body":277,"status":6,"type":10,"date":278,"slug":279,"title":280,"image":281,"countries":282,"topic":283,"activity":285,"tags":286,"nid":287,"topics":288,"activities":289,"authors":290,"images":292,"websites":293,"area":24,"programme":24,"language":24,"translations":294,"translation_of":24,"user_created":40,"date_created":295,"user_updated":41,"date_updated":296,"content":297,"link":298},9858,"Social network analysis (SNA) can help us to better understand and tackle the transnational organised crime and dark networks that sustain corruption, money laundering and illicit trafficking.  In my work for the Basel Institute’s Public Governance team, I am currently focused on using SNA to support research into the organised crime networks behind the multibillion-dollar global trade in illegal wildlife products. But the methodology and techniques are just as powerful when applied to any major trafficking network – people, drugs and weapons – as well as gambling, match-fixing and other organised crimes.  SNA is also useful to understand other types of social networks that are linked to many different patterns of corruption. For example, networks of political and business elites often collude to get away with grand corruption schemes in procurement for public infrastructure projects. Social networks sustain and perpetuate practices of bribery and favouritism in the provision of public services.\n\n### What is it in a nutshell? \n\nSocial network analysis is a set of theories, methods, techniques and software to study social relational structures. In other words, networks created by social interactions between individuals and groups.  SNA allows us to capture the structural and functional characteristics of each network. This includes the role of each actor, the dynamics, mechanisms and rules behind the network’s establishment and evolution, and how all the different elements – nodes – are linked together.\n\n### What can SNA tell us? \n\nSNA can help us answer questions like this:\n\n*   How dense, or closely connected is the network?\n*   Is it highly centralised or is there a lot of activity at the periphery?\n*   What kind of clusters and sub-groups exist?\n*   Which are the most powerful nodes, or “hubs”? \n*   Which nodes are acting as “brokers”, mediating between other elements?\n*   Which nodes are supplying information, advice or professional services to the illicit networks, staying mostly invisible on the periphery?\n*   How is the network evolving over time?\n*   And ultimately – which nodes must we target to disrupt the network and break it down permanently?\n\nIt's also valuable to look at how criminal networks interact with each other.\n\n### What goes into the analysis?\n\nSocial network analysts and researchers use publicly available information such as judicial documents, institutional reports and newspaper articles, along with interviews, questionnaires and focus groups. The more information we have, the more clearly we can highlight the main structural characteristics of the criminal and dark networks. Applying different models also deepens the analytical potential. An exponential random graph model, for example, identifies sociometric determinants – age, place of birth, nationality, profession, ethnic group, religion, etc. – that affect the probability of a link existing between two nodes. This is because, as the English saying goes, _birds of a feather flock together_ – people with similar social characteristics are more likely to develop a connection. This and other specific models can illuminate how a criminal network functions while at the same time supplying useful insights into the nature and origin of the criminal links.\n\n### How can SNA help law enforcement authorities and policymakers?\n\nTraffickers necessarily operate across borders, exploiting transnational criminal organisations, global dark markets and the growing possibilities offered by technology. Understanding how these networks of traffickers and criminals work, and how the networks interact with other networks, is essential to planning how to target the key players and act efficiently to dismember the networks. More importantly, SNA is essential to planning how to prevent criminal networks and trafficking rings from – like snakes or worms – re-growing and regaining their strength even after they are dismembered.\n\n### Learn more\n\n*   Find out more about the Basel Institute's [research into social networks](https:\u002F\u002Fwww.baselgovernance.org\u002Fpublic-governance\u002Fresearch-projects\u002Fsocial-networks) and current projects in this area.\n*   [Download a PDF of this quick guide.](https:\u002F\u002Fwww.baselgovernance.org\u002Fsites\u002Fdefault\u002Ffiles\u002F2020-08\u002Fqg4_sna.pdf)","2019-05-16","jacopo-costas-quick-guide-to-social-network-analysis-in-combating-organised-crime-and-trafficking-919","Jacopo Costa’s quick guide to social network analysis in combating organised crime and trafficking","https:\u002F\u002Fjam.baselgovernance.org\u002Fapi\u002Fassets\u002F9debb168-dfb7-4d06-9296-a54d9b7c3ce3?width=1000&height=650&format=webp&quality=80",[],[110,284,255,14],"Asset Recovery",[17],[],919,[110,111,255,22],[17],[291],902,[],[26],[],"2022-05-26T22:56:42.000Z","2026-05-29T22:22:00.000Z",[],"\u002Fresources\u002Fnews\u002Fjacopo-costas-quick-guide-to-social-network-analysis-in-combating-organised-crime-and-trafficking-919",{"id":300,"body":301,"status":6,"type":134,"date":302,"slug":303,"title":304,"image":305,"countries":306,"topic":307,"activity":308,"tags":311,"nid":318,"topics":319,"activities":320,"authors":321,"images":322,"websites":323,"area":24,"programme":24,"language":24,"translations":324,"translation_of":24,"user_created":40,"date_created":325,"user_updated":326,"date_updated":327,"content":328,"link":329},9633,"The Basel Institute's Green Corruption programme is launching an ambitious two-year research collaboration with the [Targeting Natural Resource Corruption](https:\u002F\u002Fwww.worldwildlife.org\u002Fpages\u002Ftnrc-targeting-natural-resource-corruption) (TNRC) project. The aim is to fill crucial gaps in understanding and addressing the corruption that fuels illegal wildlife trade and other threats to our planet.\n\nTNRC is a [USAID](https:\u002F\u002Fwww.usaid.gov\u002Fbiodiversity)\\-funded project to improve biodiversity outcomes by helping practitioners to address the threats posed by corruption to wildlife, fisheries and forests.\n\nThe Basel Institute is honoured to partner with the leading organisations in anti-corruption, natural resource management (NRM) and conservation that implement TNRC. The TNRC project is led by [World Wildlife Fund](https:\u002F\u002Fwww.worldwildlife.org\u002F) (WWF) in consortium with the [U4 Anti-Corruption Resource Centre](https:\u002F\u002Fwww.u4.no\u002F) at the Chr. Michelsen Institute, [TRAFFIC](https:\u002F\u002Fwww.traffic.org\u002F) and the [Terrorism, Transnational Crime and Corruption Center](https:\u002F\u002Ftraccc.gmu.edu\u002F) (TraCCC) at George Mason University.\n\n### Five areas, many questions\n\nThe practice-oriented research project will enhance the novel efforts of both organisations to apply anti-corruption experience and approaches to issues of natural resource corruption, illegal wildlife trade (IWT) and other forms of environmental crime.\n\nThe main focus is on the corruption risks that accompany the investigation and prosecution of IWT, but the findings will support practitioners working across conservation and natural resource management.\n\nThe five interlinked areas of research are:\n\n*   Highlighting possibilities to deploy asset recovery tools in the fight against IWT and other forms of high-value wildlife crime. This builds on the demonstrated effectiveness of asset recovery to combat many forms of corruption. (See [Gretta Fenner's short perspective on this topic](https:\u002F\u002Fbaselgovernance.org\u002Fblog\u002Fhow-asset-recovery-can-support-fight-against-wildlife-trafficking).)\n*   Studying how social norms and behavioural drivers may underlie corruption in IWT and designing and implementing two pilot interventions to address the most relevant aspects. This is a joint project with the behavioural insights team of TRAFFIC, which recently developed an [INTEGRITY Framework](https:\u002F\u002Fwww.worldwildlife.org\u002Fpages\u002Ftnrc-video-behavior-change-webinar) to support practitioners in addressing corrupt behaviours. (See also Claudia Baez Camargo’s [quick guide to social norms and corruption](https:\u002F\u002Fbaselgovernance.org\u002Fblog\u002Fclaudia-baez-camargos-quick-guide-social-norms-and-corruption) and our recent [Working Paper](https:\u002F\u002Fbaselgovernance.org\u002Fpublications\u002Fworking-paper-33-worms-eye-view-wildlife-trafficking-uganda-path-least-resistance) and [Policy Brief](https:\u002F\u002Fbaselgovernance.org\u002Fpublications\u002Fpolicy-brief-5-curbing-wildlife-trafficking-uganda-lessons-practitioners) on drivers and facilitators of IWT in Uganda.)\n*   Building a solid understanding of the context in which IWT investigations and prosecutions take place through political economy analysis in Uganda, Malawi and Peru. (As well as the publications above, see more about the value of [political economy analysis](https:\u002F\u002Fbaselgovernance.org\u002Fpublic-governance\u002Ftechnical-assistance) in designing effective anti-corruption interventions).\n*   Mapping and analysing corruption risks in the investigative-prosecutorial chain of IWT cases in the same three countries.\n*   Reviewing the ability of IWT law enforcement agencies in these three countries to control their internal corruption risks.\n\n### How anti-corruption can support conservation\n\nThe nexus between corruption and the environment – covering biodiversity, natural resource management, illegal wildlife trade and other crimes against our planet – is hugely important and a weak spot in both policy and practice.\n\nAt the [launch event](https:\u002F\u002Fbaselgovernance.org\u002Fnews\u002Funpicking-vicious-triangle-corruption-illicit-trade-and-environmental-degradation-oecdbasel) of a new OECD\u002FBasel Institute webinar series on [Corrupting the Environment](https:\u002F\u002Fbaselgovernance.org\u002Fgreen-corruption\u002Fcorrupting-environment), TNRC Chief of Party Dr Elizabeth Hart underlined how corruption undermines global and national measures to promote sustainability and protect biodiversity. Collaboration and learning across the governance, anti-corruption and conservation fields is needed to define mutual objectives and expand the range of approaches to addressing this negative impact of corruption.\n\nAbout the collaboration with TNRC, Dr Hart said:\n\n> The TNRC project aims to strengthen knowledge and practice to address the negative impact of corruption on conservation and natural resource management objectives. The Basel Institute's contributions will be an important addition to the evidence base to inform how conservation and NRM can most effectively address these challenges.\n\nJuhani Grossmann, who leads the Basel Institute’s Green Corruption programme, said:\n\n> The conceptual statement that corruption and environmental degradation are linked is omnipresent. This is why the Green Corruption team is very excited to be working with the TNRC consortium partners WWF, U4, TRAFFIC and TraCCC in this exceptionally ambitious effort to customise tried-and-tested anti-corruption tools for the natural resource management sector.\n\n### About Green Corruption at the Basel Institute\n\n*   Learn more about the Basel Institute’s [Green Corruption](https:\u002F\u002Fbaselgovernance.org\u002Fgreen-corruption) programme.\n*   The Basel Institute’s [Corrupting the Environment](https:\u002F\u002Fbaselgovernance.org\u002Fgreen-corruption\u002Fcorrupting-environment) dialogues with the OECD take place monthly in the first half of 2021 and are open to all. The next event on 27 January focuses on illicit trade and natural resources – [register here](https:\u002F\u002Fbaselgovernance.zoom.us\u002Fwebinar\u002Fregister\u002FWN_0oulVut9TDiiMCW7Ubjhbw).\n\n### About the TNRC project\n\nThe TNRC project is working to improve biodiversity outcomes by helping practitioners to address the threats posed by corruption to wildlife, fisheries and forests. TNRC harnesses existing knowledge, generates new evidence, and supports innovative policy and practice for more effective anti-corruption programming. [Learn more](https:\u002F\u002Fwww.worldwildlife.org\u002Fpages\u002Ftnrc-targeting-natural-resource-corruption).\n\nThe Targeting Natural Resource Corruption project (TNRC) is made possible by the generous support of the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The content is the responsibility of TNRC and does not necessarily reflect the views of USAID, the United States Government, or individual TNRC consortium members. WWF® and ©1986 Panda Symbol are owned by WWF. All rights reserved.","2021-01-13","anti-corruption-approaches-to-protect-biodiversity-launch-of-new-green-corruption-collaboration-with-the-tnrc-project-1957","Anti-corruption approaches to protect biodiversity: launch of new Green Corruption collaboration with the TNRC project","https:\u002F\u002Fjam.baselgovernance.org\u002Fapi\u002Fassets\u002F97b52f86-271d-4432-8dc7-5312e6eb2581?width=1000&height=650&format=webp&quality=80",[],[255],[17,309,310],"Partnerships","Media releases",[312,314],{"tags_id":313},{"id":260,"name":261},{"tags_id":315},{"id":316,"name":317},859,"Corruption risks",1957,[255],[17,309,310],[],[],[26],[],"2022-05-26T22:53:33.000Z","dfef11db-1bc6-47e9-a61d-93443995484b","2026-05-08T21:11:02.000Z",[],"\u002Fresources\u002Fnews\u002Fanti-corruption-approaches-to-protect-biodiversity-launch-of-new-green-corruption-collaboration-with-the-tnrc-project-1957",{"id":331,"body":332,"status":6,"type":10,"date":333,"slug":334,"title":335,"image":336,"countries":337,"topic":338,"activity":339,"tags":340,"nid":345,"topics":346,"activities":347,"authors":348,"images":351,"websites":352,"area":24,"programme":24,"language":24,"translations":353,"translation_of":24,"user_created":40,"date_created":354,"user_updated":41,"date_updated":355,"content":356,"link":357},10420,"If someone gives a healthcare worker a “gift” in return for faster treatment, is that a bribe or just a cultural expectation? Are some cultures inherently more corrupt than others? And does the meaning of corruption vary according to cultural context?\n\nThese are just some of the controversial and complex issues that scholars have asked in relation to culture and corruption.\n\nWe summarised the key debates in a [chapter](https:\u002F\u002Fwww.elgaronline.com\u002Fdisplay\u002Fbook\u002F9781802206494\u002Fchapter40.xml) contributed to the new [_Elgar Concise Encyclopedia of Corruption Law_](https:\u002F\u002Fwww.e-elgar.com\u002Fshop\u002Fgbp\u002Felgar-concise-encyclopedia-of-corruption-law-9781802206487.html)_._ In brief:\n\n### A tricky topic\n\nEven the juxtaposition of “culture and corruption” causes unease: the word “culture” tends to have a neutral or positive connotation, while “corruption” is practically always negative. Many are understandably uneasy about the risk of labelling entire cultural groups as “corrupt” and warn against simplistic explanations of corrupt behaviour because \"it’s in their culture\".\n\nIn contrast, others refer to cultural relativism, claiming that the concept of corruption is an artefact of the West and that local standards for what is and is not correct behaviour vary widely.\n\nStill others apply quantitative research methods to understand the links, for example comparing measures of cultural factors in different countries with indices of perceived corruption in those same countries. One study found a correlation between high levels of perceived corruption and more unequal and risk-averse societies that favour materialistic rewards.\n\nBut correlation is not causation, as we know, so it is hard to draw conclusions about whether corruption causes those cultural factors or vice versa.\n\n### Going deeper into social norms\n\nQualitative research approaches focus on local conditions, narratives and legitimisation processes. And what stands out across many countries is the importance of _personal relationships_ in citizens’ interactions with the state. As our research in Tanzania and Uganda has shown, for example, [relationships are used instrumentally](https:\u002F\u002Fbaselgovernance.org\u002Fpublications\u002Finformal-networks-investment-east-africa) to gain easier access to public services, circumvent formal rules and gain undue advantages in business dealings, among other things.\n\nWhile these personal relationships _are_ shaped by social and cultural norms around status, respect, shame, guilt, peer pressure, etc., they occur across many different countries and cultures. So it is not only simplistic but flatly wrong to say that entire groups of people are inherently corrupt because of their culture.\n\n### Overcoming shortcomings of the state\n\nPersonal relationships are necessary to overcome or compensate for the shortcomings of formal state institutions. Participants in our field research in various countries typically condemn corrupt behaviours, including the use of personal relationships to gain an undue advantage. But they continue to engage in these behaviours regardless.\n\nWhy the paradox?\n\n*   First, because conflicting values of public duty versus social obligations may trap public officials, no matter how honest they are in their hearts. That is especially the case where unwritten [social norms](http:\u002F\u002Fbaselgovernance.org\u002Fpublications\u002Fquick-guide-10-social-norms-and-corruption) like reciprocity are stronger than formal, legal rules.\n*   Second, citizens may be forced to resort to corruption as the only way to access essential services – and they become especially likely to do this when they see and believe that “everyone is doing it”.\n\nWhere the state can provide access to services, equal treatment and decent standards of living through its formal laws and institutions, it is far less likely that corruption will be seen as necessary and a normal cultural practice.\n\nThe conclusion: nobody is inherently corrupt because of their culture. But corruption can become socially legitimised in contexts where it is the only way to get around the shortcomings of the state.\n\n### Learn more\n\n*   The [_Elgar Concise Encyclopedia of Corruption Law_](https:\u002F\u002Fwww.e-elgar.com\u002Fshop\u002Fgbp\u002Felgar-concise-encyclopedia-of-corruption-law-9781802206487.html) is co-edited by Mark Pieth (the Basel Institute’s founder and former President) and Tina Søreide of the Norwegian School of Economics. Enter the code CRPT35 at the checkout for a 35 percent discount off the list price.\n*   Read Claudia Baez Camargo’s [quick guide to social norms and corruption](https:\u002F\u002Fbaselgovernance.org\u002Fpublications\u002Fquick-guide-10-social-norms-and-corruption).\n*   See a summary of our research project exploring how individuals [invest in creating informal relationships](https:\u002F\u002Fbaselgovernance.org\u002Fblog\u002Fbribery-isnt-only-exchange-money-what-new-research-tells-us-about-how-informal-networks-enable) and networks in order to obtain public services or business deals.\n*   Learn more about the work of our [Prevention, Research and Innovation](https:\u002F\u002Fbaselgovernance.org\u002Fteam\u002Fprevention-research-innovation) (formerly Public Governance) team.","2024-02-20","culture-and-corruption-a-complex-relationship-2586","Culture and corruption: a complex relationship","https:\u002F\u002Fjam.baselgovernance.org\u002Fapi\u002Fassets\u002Ff027fa3f-027c-427e-89e8-23a0955287ef?width=1000&height=650&format=webp&quality=80",[],[141,142],[17,18],[341],{"tags_id":342},{"id":343,"name":344},1309,"Informality",2586,[149],[17,18],[349,350],1118,1119,[],[26],[],"2024-02-20T17:01:31.000Z","2026-05-07T21:29:55.000Z",[],"\u002Fresources\u002Fnews\u002Fculture-and-corruption-a-complex-relationship-2586",{"left":359,"top":359,"width":360,"height":360,"rotate":359,"vFlip":361,"hFlip":361,"body":362},0,20,false,"\u003Cpath fill=\"currentColor\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\" d=\"M17 10a.75.75 0 0 1-.75.75H5.612l4.158 3.96a.75.75 0 1 1-1.04 1.08l-5.5-5.25a.75.75 0 0 1 0-1.08l5.5-5.25a.75.75 0 1 1 1.04 1.08L5.612 9.25H16.25A.75.75 0 0 1 17 10\" clip-rule=\"evenodd\"\u002F>",1780676403822]