Search Page

This booklet introduces the reader to the tools of functional analysis - management audit - applicable to the organisational specificies of national education ministries. The audit is a critical analysis, aimed at identifying what works, and what...

In this chapter, Reinikka demonstrates that increasing public access to information has reduced inefficiency and corruption in Uganda. The survey from which her conclusions are drawn shows that budget allocations matter little when institutions are...

In 1995/96, 47.5 percent of the population of Bangladesh were still living below the poverty line. This paper argues that the persistence of poverty in Bangladesh originates less in the lack of resources than in the failures of governance. These...

Several authors claim to provide evidence that government corruption is less severe in small rather than large countries. Knack and Azfar demonstrate in this book that this relationship is an artifact of sample selection. Most corruption indicators...

Corruption, particularly political or "grand corruption", distorts the entire decision-making process connected with public investment projects. The degree of distorsions is higher with weaker auditing institutions. The evidence presented shows that...

The author reviews the overwhelming statistical evidence that countries with high levels of corruption experience poor economic performance. Corruption hinders economic development by reducing domestic investment, discouraging foreign direct...

The relationship between decentralization of government activities and the extent of rent extraction by private parties is an important element in the recent debate on institutional design. The theoretical literature makes ambiguous predictions about...

The movement toward decentralization is gathering momentum. In this context, the important costs of corruption are being explicitly recognised, as is the urgent need to prevent corruption, raise city revenues, improve service delivery, stimulate...

Corruption is problematic when policies encourage it and institutional controls are weak. Diagnosing corruption, and understanding its causes and consequences, allows countries to overcome their policy and institutional weaknesses and implement...

Data that can be used to inform policy decisions are typically scarce in low-income countries, where standard policy prescriptions are less likely to apply. But if strategically designed, a survey can help induce policy change by pointing directly to...