Despite the growth in literature on political corruption, contributions from field research are still exiguous. This book edited by Davide Torsello, includes two chapters co-authored by Claudia Baez Camargo, head of the Institute’s research division. It provides a timely and much needed addition to current research, bridging the gap between macro level quantitative indicators of corruption and micro level qualitative evidence through an innovative ethnographic approach to the study of corruption and integrity in public administration.

What is corrupt behaviour? In order to better understand how endemic corruption “works” from the perspective of the affected populations themselves, researchers from the Basel Institute explore behavioural factors that impact attitudes towards petty corruption in Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda. One of the milestones of the research project has now been successfully completed with a systematic literature review.

The British Academy is hosting an all-day event on Monday, 27 February for the Anti-Corruption Evidence (ACE) scheme, which is run in partnership with the Department for International Development (DfID). All eight ACE award winners are coming together at mid-point of their projects to present and discuss their progress thus far.

On 27 February, Dr Claudia Baez Camargo, Head of the Institute’s Public Governance Research, gave a talk on her latest research findings at the British Academy. Her presentation on “Informal Governance and Corruption: Transcending the Principal-Agent and Collective Action Paradigms” was recorded and can be accessed online here.  

From 30 to 31 March 2017, the OECD invites pioneers from a variety of backgrounds and academic disciplines to share their latest evidence and findings in corruption at the Global Anti-Corruption & Integrity Forum in Paris. Researchers from the Basel Institute will be present to discuss their findings on new approaches to anti-corruption. 

On 21 June 2017, the Basel Institute will participate in an event during the 35th session of the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) in Geneva on innovative approaches to the implementation of sustainable development goals (SDGs).

On July 4th, the Basel Institute and Makerere University co-hosted a multi-stakeholder consultation workshop on behalf of the research project "Corruption, Social Norms and Behaviours in East Africa". The workshop informed interested Ugandan stakeholders on the findings of the research project and invited a discussion on the way forward to developing innovative anti-corruption interventions for Uganda based on the evidence uncovered through the research.

Informal practices are pervasive in all societies, and we are all in some form or other impacted by them, often without noticing at all but bearing the consequences nonetheless. Thus, they are hardly ever explicitly articulated or reflected in our governments’ policy making. The Basel Institute on Governance cordially invites you to a debate how informal practices shape the fabric of societies around the world and the impact they have on people’s life and more broadly on development outcomes.