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Problem setting. The system of public administration is a complex set of related elements and entities that interact with each other, so the manifestation of negative corruption minimizes the possibility of achieving positive results in the process of these communications. Special attention should be paid to the functioning of the customs system, which is an important part of the national economy of Ukraine. In this area, corruption abuses are extremely pronounced, given the peculiarities of the customs industry. This problem is acute and urgent, as its existence causes the progression of those negative phenomena that are currently present in the customs system of Ukraine and reduce the effectiveness of public administration in general.Recent research and publications analysis. The issue of corruption in the context of public administration is the subject of research by many scientists: V. Averyanov, O. Antonova, V. Bashtannyk, Y. Bytyak, I. Borodin, A. Vasyliev, I. Golosnichenko, E. Dodin, L. Koval, V. Kolpakov, A. Komzyuk, N. Lypovska, V. Olefir, O. Ostapenko, I. Pakhomov, O. Petrenko, S. Seryogin, I. Khozhylo, V. Shamray, H. Yarmaki etc. Given the wide range of researchers who study the specifics of corruption in the context of public administration, it is worth noting the significant gaps in the assessment of this issue from a sectoral perspective. In particular, it should be noted the great need to study corruption in customs and find ways to minimize this shameful phenomenon in modern conditions.Highlighting previously unsettled parts of the general problem. The need to analyze corruption processes in the customs authorities and substantiate offers for anti-corruption actions in the field of public administration led to the choice of the topic of the article.Paper main body. Corruption in the general sense can be defined as the illegal activity of persons called to perform the functions of the state, in the form of misuse of their powers in order to obtain benefits by increasing their material wealth, obtaining illegal services or benefits.Global trends indicate the presence of corruption in all countries, so this issue is a priority in solving all spheres of life, both developed and developing countries. In particular, public administration of European countries in the political, informational, institutional and legal context is aimed at combating corruption. To this end, there are such institutions common to EU countries as Greco, the Venice Commission, Olaf, Eurojust, Europol and others. At the interstate level, they coordinate and provide information and analytical support for anti-corruption measures, develop common legal standards in the form of community regulations.In the field of public administration, there is a sufficient legal resource on the basis of which it is possible to ensure anti-corruption policy in the state and, in particular, in the customs sphere. However, the customs system is characterized by a wide range of unresolved issues related to corruption abuses. Accordingly, there is a need to develop offers for overcoming and preventing corruption: development and implementation in the practice of customs authorities of methodological recommendations relating to their employees and aimed at resolving conflicts related to corruption; observance by customs officers of relevant ethical norms, which must harmonize with anti-corruption activities; effective application of responsibility to those guilty of corruption and comprehensive implementation of measures aimed at combating corruption; clear identification of those responsible for corruption in areas where there is a high risk of such abuses; regulation of procedures aimed at preventing corruption of customs officers in the performance of their official duties.Anti-corruption in customs authorities in the context of ensuring the effectiveness of public administration should include the implementation of the following measures: development of conceptual foundations of anti-corruption policy in the customs sphere; adopt a Code of Ethics for Customs Officers in accordance with the needs of anti-corruption policy; effective implementation of the principle of equality before the law in the context of reducing corruption; ensuring equal responsibility for corrupt actions not only for individuals but also for legal entities; ensure the absence of immunity from corrupt practices for officials, including senior executives; delimit the powers of bodies engaged in anti-corruption activities; to intensify the public to combat corruption; wide informing of the public about cases of corruption in customs bodies.Conclusions of the research and prospects for further studies. The problem of corruption in public authorities is a long-standing and painful issue in Ukraine. This problem is especially acute in the activities of customs authorities, as their activities are directly related to foreign economic activity, significant flows of goods and flows of financial resources across the customs border of the state. In turn, this is a direct threat to the country’s national security. Given the fact that Ukraine ranks relatively low in global rankings on the existence of corruption abuses, it is necessary to take decisive measures to reduce the manifestations of this phenomenon, in particular, in the customs authorities.

Introduction. The problem of corruption has acquired a particular importance in light of ubiquitous corruption scandals, entangling both developing and developed countries. Currently, a number of often contradicting hypotheses has been posed on the ways corrupt practices impact protest potential of a society and stability of a political system, as well as on the role of anti-corruption policy in the alleviation of such impact. This article aims to survey and compare different researches analyzing the impact of corruption and anti-corruption policies on different aspects of modern Russian society; in particular, their impact on protest potential and political stability. The author’s hypothesis lies within the assumption that The System anti-corruption policy, which is a prioritized instrument for political and administrative activities of state and municipal authorities in the prevention of corrupt practices, significantly reduces the extent of protest potential and facilitates political stability in a society.Methodology and sources. Methodological basis of this article is a multiparadigm approach to studying the phenomenon of corruption. As part of this research, a raft of empirical research conducted by domestic and foreign authors has been analyzed (E. M. Uslaner, P. Heywood, J. Rose et al.). Authors also use the results of an internet survey conducted with 580 participants (predominantly students of Russian universities) in 2020. The respondents were self-selected, convenience sampling. Manifold research and sociological surveys demonstrate the difficulty of generalizing the results.Results and discussion. Substantial amount of empirical data reflects an adverse effect of corrupt practices on the livelihood of a modern society. These practices entail the decrease in GDP growth rates, avert domestic and foreign investments, amplify social and economic inequality, decrease tax revenue and lead to social welfare underfunding. It ultimately results in the lack of public trust towards state institutions as well as the decrease of generalized trust. Even though there is a positive correlation between endemic corruption and political volatility, the results of other research cast doubt on the extent to which corruption may influence economic development and political stability.Conclusion. In general, the conducted research has allowed for the inference that the prevalence of corrupt practices may either amplify social instability and increase the protest potential or it may have no influence at all on political activity of a society and stability of political regime. At the same time, the implementation of anti-corruption policies by the authorities significantly reduces the level of protest potential and fosters political stability.

Introduction. A sociological analysis of the personality of the bribe-giver is given based on the study of data on the Republic of Mordovia. The relevance of the issue is determined by the following factors: the strengthening of the negative impact of corruption on all aspects of society and the state; the social mimicry of corruption, the stability of ideas in society about the ambivalence of corruption. The purpose of the article is to highlight the regional specifics of the identity of the bribe-giver.Methodology and sources. The neoclassical paradigm of the study of corruption links corruption phenomena with the decomposition of the state apparatus and the erosion of the moral foundations of society. In this vein, the authors explore the dual nature of corruption, that is, its conditionality by both the government and society. In the context of Durkheim's anomie theory, the motivational complex of bribe-takers is analyzed.Results and discussion. The objectives of the study required a mass survey (n = 400, ∆ ±5%), which represented the composition of the population of the region by gender, age, type of activity and type of locality. Within the framework of the study, a qualitative and quantitative description of the corrupt behavior of the bribe-giver was carried out, his motivational complex was revealed, and his subjective assessment of the dynamics of corruption and the effectiveness of anti-corruption policy was revealed. The following regional features of the personality of the bribe-giver are revealed: the age of the highest economic and social lability, the average level of corruption activity, the low size of the average amount of a bribe, acting as the initiator of a corrupt bribe, the perception of a bribe as a rational means of solving problems, pronounced negativism in assessing the authorities.Conclusion. Participation in corrupt transactions imposes a more or less pronounced imprint on the personality of the bribe-giver, which consists in the deformation of the practices of relations with representatives of state bodies, the gradual loss of immunity to criminal or semi-criminal activities, the partial degradation of socially significant moral values, the transformation of corrupt practices from a social anomie to a social norm.

Commercial organisations practise corporate hospitality to develop loyalty and trust, keep in touch with clients, and weather business. A challenge exists where corporate hospitality may camouflage corruption. One of the pertinent issues is addressing the obscuring boundaries of corporate hospitality to ensure commercial organisations in Malaysia are not trapped in the labyrinth of corruption affecting business sustainability. This research employs a doctrinal study and content analysis approach that utilises library-based research to procure primary and secondary sources. The research outcome may assist the government, policymaker, and commercial organisations' stakeholders in combating corrupt practices within their organisations. Keywords: commercial organisations; corporate corruption; corporate hospitality; guidelines eISSN: 2398-4287© 2021. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA cE-Bs by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open access article under the CC BYNC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians/Africans/Arabians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21834/ebpj.v6iSI6.3051

Based on expert estimates, 17% of corrupt practices are committed in this area, and the authors identify the leading causes of corruption in the educational sphere. The objective is the non-recognition of teachers and lecturers as subjects of criminal corruption offenses, low level of the labor expense, inventory, and logistics management discrepancy in educational institutions of different groups with modern educational methods. Subjective reasons include the mutual “benefit” of corrupt practices to all participants in the educational process; disenchantment with the profession due to burnout; certain aspects of mentality; the sense of impunity for blackmailing offenses and receiving gifts. Regarding scientific research methods, their branched complex and multilevel structure are proposed: philosophical, empirical research, methods of theoretical cognition: general logical methods, specific scientific methods. The principal means to combat corruption in the educational sphere is preventive increasing the level of labor expense in the academic sphere; improving the inventory and logistics management of the educational institutions at all levels and regions; avoiding the mutual “benefit” to all participants in the educational process and anti-corruption means (criminalization for all teaching and research-pedagogical staff for the commission of the criminal offense).

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to critically discuss the participation of sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) in the corporate social responsibility (CSR) programmes. Sovereign wealth funds in emerging economies are often involved in corporate social responsibility. However, the 1 Malaysian Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal illustrates the possible use of SWF as a vehicle for corruption and abuse.Design/methodology/approachThe primary objective is to develop good governance practices of CSR by SWFs that could limit corrupt practices. A case study approach is adopted to investigate the CSR involvement of two SWFs – Norway’s Government Pension Fund Global (GPFG) and Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD).FindingsThe finding shows that SWFs should not be directly involved in CSR. It is proposed that independent Non-government Organisations (NGOs), through a competitive funding model, could serve the CSR purpose of SWFs more effectively and bring socio-economic changes in emerging economies.Originality/valueThe funding model identifies the expected outcomes, priorities and uses of the funds. The funding committee should also be independent of the Board and transparent in its allocations.

It has been commonly observed that tropical countries tend to suffer from intense corruption and underdevelopment. This study provides an explanation for this long-standing disparity across the world based on variation in the intensity of ultraviolet radiation (UV-R). The central hypothesis is that UV-R is positively associated with the (historical) prevalence of eye diseases, which significantly shortens work-life expectancy as a skilled worker. This helps shape the worldwide distribution of corruption by affecting the incumbents’ window of opportunity. Using data for up to 139 countries, I consistently find empirical support for the positive relationship between UV-R and corruption. The main findings withstand accounting for numerous alternative explanations for international differences in corruption levels. Employing individual-level data from the World Values Survey, I document suggestive evidence that exposure to UV-R is linked to surveyed respondents’ tolerance towards corrupt activities. Furthermore, a subnational analysis for China lends credence to the cross-country evidence.

The term corruption is known in modern society and was not found in the early days and development of Islam. In Indonesia, many corrupt practices were found around 1950. Furthermore, in relation to its legal arguments, al-Qur’an does not directly mention laws and sanctions for corruptors. Therefore there are many differences of opinion in determining the sentence. This research will discuss and explore the laws and sanctions for corruptors from the four verses of the Qur'an, namely QS. Āli ‘Imrān [3]: 161, QS. Al-Nisā '[4]: 29, QS. Al-Baqarah [2]: 188, and QS. Al-Māidah [5]: 38 using the khāfī alfāz interpretation approach. By using thematic methods and liberative hermeneutics, this study finds a conclusion that the law of corruption is the same as al-sāriq and the legal consequences are the same as thieves, namely punishment (cutting off hands) or imprisonment

The concept of “good governance” has emerged as vital driving force in the past few decades to positively shape economic growth and sustainable socio-economic development across the globe in general and developing countries in particular. However, Pakistan’s turbulent political landscape and deeply entrenched systemic corruption in the recent decades have utterly harmed the good governance at large, resulting in socio-economic developmental woes and increased sufferings of the people. This paper focuses on analysing the influences of good governance on the socio-economic development in Pakistan in the light of World Bank good governance indicator and also probe the impact of prevalent perceived corruption in the country in accordance with observation taken by Transparency International, UNDP, and other renowned State Institutions. The paper has emphasized on the last two decades to ascertain the contributory factors by using the appropriate qualitative / quantitative and statistical techniques that debilitated good governance in Pakistan and caused continual political instability, pessimism, and recurring political crises and undermined socio-economic development in the country. Based on the ascertained findings, the paper has identified impediments to existing governance situation and prevalence of corrupt practices and has proposed workable suggestions/ recommendations to assist policy makers, development planners, intellectuals, politicians, and succeeding governments in Pakistan to take corresponding structural or policy reforms to address the said hurdles.

El artículo presenta un análisis comparativo (comparativo) de modelos sociales de anticorrupción y prácticas corruptas en las dimensiones global y europea. Se identifican y analizan los modelos básicos de anticorrupción: el primer modelo, vertical, donde el impacto en la propagación de la corrupción y prácticas corruptas se lleva a cabo de manera vertical, el cual se basa principalmente en mecanismos represivos (acoso, responsabilidad penal), estricta legalidad. sanciones y control social; el segundo modelo es horizontal (modelo de eliminación sistémica de factores de corrupción), que prevé el uso de métodos represivos, control social y mecanismos preventivos relacionados con la participación pública, formación de imperativos “anticorrupción” en la sociedad, alto nivel de cultura jurídica y responsabilidad social basada en la estructura de principios democráticos de la vida social.

Numerical measures indicate that corruption is generally higher in the developing countries with energy assets (oil, gas and coal) as opposed to non-energy asset developing nations. The presence of energy asset means that governments can effectively gauge their nations reserves to production ratio which can strengthen their negotiating powers with industries in the extractive sector to earn more future income, creating a fertile ground for corruption to emerge. Hence, whether or not the presence of energy assets fuels more corruption is an area of research that is overlooked that deserves further investigation. This paper investigates the effect of energy assets on corruption in developing economies. The studies empirical methodology involves the estimation of a reduced form equation utilising wealth accounts data on energy assets (oil, natural gas and coal) in order to investigate its effect on corruption while simultaneously controlling for nations economic, social and institutional structure. Based on the heteroskedasticity-consistent covariance matrix regression methodology, the findings of this study revealed a statistically significant and negative correlation of oil on corruption for the years 2005, 2010 and 2014. The results also showed a statistically significant and negative correlation of coal and natural gas on corruption for 2005. The findings also revealed that economic development, education and the rule of law are fundamentally essential variables in controlling corruption. This study's main policy implication is the need for governments to institute credible anti-corruption measures in the energy-related resource industries. In particular, the strengthening of the legal frameworks, including legislations of strong anti-corruption laws where individuals and firms engaged in corrupt practices are held accountable. The seizure of incomes and assets acquired through corrupt means, imposing severe financial penalties, monitoring and accountability of origin of offshore payments by international firms and banks and closure of firms engaged in corruption are some of the practical measures forward that can lead to the long-term sustainability of sub-soil energy assets.

The Article Entitled "Strengthening Public Participation in the Prevention of Corruption through the Regulation of Integrative Participative Institutions" is a normative study that wants to analyze the importance of the role of public participation in controlling the policies of prisons in Indonesia in order to minimize corrupt practices in prisons. The results of the authors' study found that there are obstacles in optimizing the role of public participation in efforts to prevent corruption in prisons, that correctional regulations do not strictly and in detail about community participation. Therefore, the solution offered in this paper is that the government or legislators immediately create regulations that accommodate public participation in controlling correctional policies in Indonesia through participatory correctional regulations. So that this can become a legal basis that provides legal certainty for the public to participate in preventing corruption in prisons

The study concludes that the current interest in corruption is due to the gradual increase in the scale of this negative phenomenon, its impact on business conditions, distortion of market mechanisms and increase the costs of corruption. Discretionary political decisions create the illusion of being able to influence them, in some cases through bribery, and in others simply by using close personal relationships with civil servants. The probability of making a “favorable” decision for the persons concerned increases inversely proportional to the level of salaries of civil servants and the severity of punishment for abuse of power. Sometimes, due to limited supply, rationing or significant time, there is an excessive demand for certain services, which leads to the problem of distribution of limited supply and decision-making by civil servants. Such situations are also a source of corruption, which is confirmed by registered cases of corruption in all the above areas. Among the potential sources of corruption (in fact, political corruption) it is also necessary to mention the use of state-owned enterprises to finance the activities of political parties and provide jobs to clients of certain political groups. In all these areas, lack of transparency and effective institutional control are the main factors leading to corruption. The lack of politically motivated hiring, patronage and nepotism, as well as clear career rules, all contribute to the quality of the bureaucracy. A transparent system of incentives and established traditions largely explain why some bureaucracies are much less corrupt than others. It has been established that the fight against corruption, which is carried out solely on the basis of wage increases, requires significant budget expenditures, while it can only be partially successful. In addition, as noted above, even with high wages, some individuals may continue to engage in corrupt practices. Theoretically, other things being equal, corruption can be reduced by increasing punishment. That is, higher penalties, at least in theory, can reduce corruption, but can also increase bribes.

Ever since the spectacular boom and bust cycle of the Spanish real estate industry, endemic corruption at the local level has become a widely recognized problem in the national public discourse. In an effort to expose an under-explored political determinant, this paper investigates the effect of local and regional alignment in fomenting corruption at the Spanish municipal level. To do so, we construct an ample panel dataset on the prevalence of corrupt practices by local politicians, which is employed to test the possible impact of partisan alignment in three consecutive joint municipal and regional elections. Findings show aligned municipalities to be more corrupt than non-aligned ones, an effect that is further associated with absolute majorities at both levels of government and higher capital transfers. By contrast, we also show that “throwing the rascals out” could be an effective strategy for curbing the corrupt practices of aligned municipalities. This indicates that the democratic political process may be effective in corruption control if agreements can be reached to remove corrupt politicians or parties from power.

Corruption has become a pandemic and a moral burden that bedeviled the world. Corruption is a practice that permeates all societal segments, sectors, activities and it takes various shapes, forms, dimensions, classifications and manifestations. Nearly all countries of the world are affected by the endemic of corruption albeit, in different magnitude with some having lower incidence while others a high rate of occurrence. Corruption has constituted itself as a political and socioeconomic problem worldwide because it leads to misgovernance, deprivation, inequality and squander of scarce public resources which have the concomitant repercussions of poverty, insecurity, joblessness, hunger and malnutrition, poor healthcare services delivery and low quality education. The problem of corruption took a new dimension when it continuously defies various strategies and alternatives proffered by nation-states, international organisations and agencies. One of the outstanding measures that permanently proves workable is the Islamic model which forbids the practice of corruption and ties it with moral burden and spiritual integrity. Hence, this study presented an alternative model with reference to Nigeria as the area of study. The study utilised a conceptual descriptive approach where documented sources were consulted and analysed. The study discovered that despite the existence of various anti-graft agencies, corruption continues in Nigeria unabated which portrays the need for adopting a different approach and that has been provided as the Islamic perspective. The study recommends among several others that the Islamic ethics and morals of detesting corrupt practices and the accompanied sanctions should be integrated in the crusade against corruption.

Las exigencias de la sociedad sobre la administración pública pasan por profundizar en el comportamiento y en la dedicación profesional, sobre todo, de los administradores y gestores públicos. Todo ello no es más que trasunto del principio de buena administración que, como ya he destacado, es hoy un derecho de los ciudadanos, que reclama mayor objetividad en la toma de decisiones, mayor intensidad en la defensa de los derechos de los ciudadanos, más transparencia, más control y, sobre todo una más proactiva rendición de cuentas. Se trata, en definitiva, de imbuir a los gestores públicos y a los ciudadanos que más frecuente y estrechamente se relacionan con ellos, de sentimientos de ética, de rectitud y de honestidad capaces de impedir prácticas corruptas. Recibido: 29.09.2020Aceptado: 21.12.2020

Venezuela was once a thriving economy but it experienced one of the worst political crisis and economic catastrophe in modern times. The failure of leadership and erroneous policy measures were instrumental in this disaster. After Hugo Chavez, his successor Nicolás Maduro from socialist PSUV party took over in 2013. His extension through the general election in May 2018 remained shrouded under controversy. There was massive corruption, social repression, deceleration of productivity, economic indecision, higher dependence on oil, rampant human rights violation, and shutdown of businesses noticed during his regime. Venezuela is an oil rich country with the leading verified oil reserves in the world. Its economy is highly dependent on oil exports but oil production has plummeted tremendously. The nation failed to diversify in other lines of production even as oil prices started to fall since 2014 and the economy suffered beyond measure. As per IMF estimate, Venezuela's economy has shrunk by more than one-third between 2013 and 2017 approximately. Its currency value reduced to rubble, inflation skyrocketed, GDP growth rate went into tailspin and debt defaulted. There is unprecedented humanitarian crisis in Venezuela in recent times. Rise in violence and crime, hunger, malnutrition and poverty led millions of people to flee the country. As per the United Nations’ record, about 4.8 million Venezuelans left the nation since the crisis erupted in 2014. US imposed sanction on Venezuela in 2015 which further got intensified in 2017. There is now international pressure on Nicolás Maduro to step down and to allow his opponent Juan Guaidó to run the country. In the times of the Corona virus outbreak, this crisis has aggravated for the economically impaired nation.

Important advantages of the potential use of blockchain in the scientific and educational field are security, immutability, transparency. By providing a framework for decentralized forms of government and smart contracts, while significantly reducing the potential for fraudulent and corrupt practices, this technology can help safeguard public interests and state sovereignty. Today, attempts are being made to develop various technological solutions based on blockchain for various areas of social interaction. One example is the drafting of smart contracts aimed at solving a number of tasks in scientific and educational activities. The article discusses the possibilities and prospects of using blockchain technology and smart contracts in science and education. The topic causes controversy among specialists: some are convinced of the effectiveness of the proposed solutions, while others point to the negative consequences and obstacles to the introduction of new technology. The authors analyzed possible ways of introducing blockchain technology and smart contracts in the field of education and science, as well as the possible risks associated with their use.

This paper examines the different dimensions and continuous corrupt practices in the federal government of Nigeria amidst President Buhari administration’s anti-corruption songs and war (2015 – date). It is observed that the menaces of infrastructural deficits are persistent and unabated due to billions of dollars that are carted away by both political and public office holders on a seasonal basis, and misfit appointment of public officials popularly referred to as ‘favoritism’ and the ‘lopsidedness.’ The study which is qualitative with data gathered from secondary sources. The paper found the fact that political and public office holders across administrations in Nigeria perceived corruption as a worthwhile venture despite the campaign against corruption. It is also noticed that the EFCC created to lead the anti-corruption war only barks without biting. The study advocated, among others, that the National Assembly should immediately reevaluate and review the Nigerian administration of the criminal justice system.

PurposeDue to the fragmented and complex nature of the construction industry, many countries, including Singapore, have progressively encouraged greater collaboration amongst major stakeholders in the industry. It is hoped that doing so will result in an increase in the quality of construction projects. Given the long duration of typical construction projects, it is plausible for collaborating parties to develop close and personal relationships. In recent years, corruption cases arising from familiar collaboration have caught the public's attention. This study seeks to better understand familiar collaboration and its adverse impacts on the quality of construction projects.Design/methodology/approachA mixed research method was adopted, with a questionnaire survey distributed to 32 respondents representing client and contractors. This was followed by interviews to validate the survey findings.FindingsThe findings suggest that, when there is a lack of surveillance, familiar collaboration is likely to lead to favouritism and dishonesty, which can have an adverse impact on the quality of construction projects. The findings additionally suggest that value for money, conformance to specifications and fitness for purpose are the main aspects of quality that are likely to be adversely affected by corrupt practices bought about by familiar collaboration.Originality/valueIn this paper, these relationships are described using the term familiar collaboration. Strong and intimate relationships of this type may lead to a danger of parties committing corrupt practices. This study is one of the very attempts seek to better understand familiar collaboration and its adverse impacts on the quality of construction projects.

The article examines the deterministic complex of such a corruption offense as provocation of bribery at the present stage. Thereare groups of direct reasons and conditions for making a bribe offer: political and legal; economic and legal; legal; organizational andmanagerial; socio-psychological. The classifications of determinants of crimes are divided, which are divided into causes and conditionsof crime according to the following criteria: mechanism of action (nature of determination), level of functioning, content, nature,essence and other features. It is established that one of the most important determinants of the emergence of corrupt practices is thedeformation of the value component of human consciousness. It is determined that the prevalence of bribery provocation in everydaylife and its adaptation to the life of the population, especially in some spheres of public life, becomes the norm for some people. Chan -ging the types and forms of corruption is integrated taking into account the impact of existing anti-corruption measures aimed at counteractingthese phenomena and limiting them. It is proved that the public danger of this crime is that it is one of the most common corruptionoffenses that affect the development of society as a whole, inhibiting effective mechanisms to overcome the crisis and create asteadfast position of intolerance to corruption among citizens. One of the most important tasks that will solve the problem of widespreadcorruption in society is to determine the deterministic complex of these crimes. Influence on determinants, on the reasons and conditionsof provocation of bribery, will allow to reduce negative consequences both of these crimes, and corruption as such in general.

Background Corruption is widespread in Nigeria’s health sector but the reasons why it exists and persists are poorly understood and it is often seen as intractable. We describe a consensus building exercise in which we asked health workers and policy-makers to identify and prioritise feasible responses to corruption in the Nigerian health sector. Methods We employed three sequential activities. First, a narrative literature review identified which types of corruption are reported in the Nigerian health system. Second, we asked 21 frontline health workers to add to what was found in the review (based on their own experiences) and prioritise them, based on their significance and the feasibility of assessing them, by means of a consensus building exercise using a Nominal Group Technique (NGT). Third, we presented their assessments in a meeting of 25 policy-makers to offer their views on the practicality of implementing appropriatemeasures. Results Participants identified 49 corrupt practices from the literature review and their own experience as most important in the Nigerian health system. The NGT prioritised: absenteeism, procurement-related corruption, underthe-counter payments, health financing-related corruption, and employment-related corruption. This largely reflected findings from the literature review, except for the greater emphasis on employment-related corruption from the NGT. Absenteeism, Informal payments and employment-related corruption were seen as most feasible to tackle. Frontline workers and policy-makers agreed that tackling corrupt practices requires a range of approaches. Conclusion Corruption is recognized in Nigeria as widespread but often seems insurmountable. We show how a structured approach can achieve consensus among multiple stakeholders, a crucial first step in mobilizing action to address corruption.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to compare two corruption scandals in Singapore to illustrate how its government has dealt with these scandals and to discuss the implications for its anti-corruption strategy.Design/methodology/approachThis paper analyses the Teh Cheang Wan and Edwin Yeo scandals by relying on published official and press reports.FindingsBoth scandals resulted in adverse consequences for the offenders. Teh committed suicide on 14 December 1986 before he could be prosecuted for his bribery offences. Yeo was found guilty of criminal breach of trust and forgery and sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment. The Commission of Inquiry found that the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) was thorough in its investigations which confirmed that only Teh and no other minister or public official were implicated in the bribery offences. The Independent Review Panel appointed by the Prime Minister's Office to review the CPIB's internal controls following Yeo's offences recommended improvements to strengthen the CPIB's financial procedures and audit system. Singapore has succeeded in minimising corruption because its government did not cover-up the scandals but punished the guilty offenders and introduced measures to prevent their recurrence.Originality/valueThis paper will be useful for scholars, policymakers and anti-corruption practitioners interested in Singapore's anti-corruption strategy and how its government handles corruption scandals.

Studi ini mencoba untuk memberikan informasi kepada pembaca bahwa problematika program dana hibah dan bantuan sosial memiliki kerentanan tinggi terhadap kepentingan korupsi dan politik. Studi ini merupakan penelitian normatif dengan pendekatan konseptual, karena penelitian ini merupakan studi yang menggabungkan pembahasan ilmu politik dan administrasi publik untuk menjelaskan suatu fenomena. Pada artikel ini penulis akan menjelaskan tiga pembahasan. Pertama Relasi Kekuasaan dan Korupsi. Kedua adalah moral dan kepemimpinan politik pada praktik korupsi. Ketiga adalah Problem perilaku elit, birokrasi dan budaya korupsi di daerah. Tujuan artikel ini adalah memberikan tuntutan kepada Negara untuk mengawasi dan mengawal implementasi kebijakan dana hibah dan bantuan sosial. Kontrol publik juga diperlukan bukan saja untuk memastikan bahwa dana hibah maupun bantuan sosial dapat terealisasi dengan baik dan tepat sasaran, namun juga menghindarkan pelaksanaanya dari problematika korupsi dan kepentingan politik elit tertentu. Kata kunci: dana hibah, bantuan social, kebijakan, elit, birokrasi, korupsi

The presented study examines the relationship between the tax system and the level of corruption in Russia.Aim. The study aims to provide a theoretical and methodological substantiation of the relationship and convergence between the tax system and the level of corruption in the Russian economy for the purposes of implementation of Russia’s economic security concept.Tasks. The authors examine the legislation on taxes and duties of the Russian Federation and the Russian anti-corruption legislation; examine the factors that affect the relationship between the tax system and the level of corruption in Russia and the country’s economic security; identify problems in the mutual influence of the tax system and the level of corruption caused by a low level of legal consciousness and extralegal approaches to the formation of the tax system that disregard theoretical foundations; substantiate recommendations for organizing a system of taxes and duties that would minimize the lobbying of economic and political forces in view of the objective social and public importance of the tax system for the country.Methods. The methodological basis of this study includes the fundamental provisions of modern economic theory, theory of public administration in taxation, and works on anti-corruption policy. The information basis of the study comprises the regulatory and legal acts of the Russian Federation on taxation and anti-corruption measures, Russian statistics on tax administration, and materials of national programs.Results. The study substantiates that at the current stage of development of the tax administration system it is possible to determine an objective trend: the Russian tax system has become an objective and substantial prerequisite for active impact of the quasi-legal tax system on the level of corruption, i.e. corrupt practices at the time of the establishment of the corresponding public relations have determined today’s acts of corruption.Conclusions. There is a close relationship between the tax system and the level of corruption in the country.

PurposeCorruption continues to be a pervasive stain on the construction industry in developing countries worldwide, jeopardising project performance and with wide-ranging negative implications for all facets of society. As such, this study aims to identify and analyse the causes of corruption in the construction sector of an emerging economy such as Malaysia, as it is crucial to uncover the specific facilitating factors involved to devise effective counter strategies.Design/methodology/approachFollowing a detailed literature review, 18 causes of corruption are identified. The results of an opinion survey within the Malaysian construction industry are further reported to rank and analyse the causes. The factor analysis technique is then applied to uncover the principal factors involved.FindingsThe results indicate that all the considered causes are perceived to be significant, with the most critical causes being avarice, relationships between parties, lack of ethical standards, an intense competitive nature and the involvement of a large amount of money. A factor analysis reveals four major causal dimensions of these causes, comprising the unique nature of the construction industry and the extensive competition involved; unscrupulous leadership, culture and corruption perception; a flawed legal system and lack of accountability; and ineffective enforcement and an inefficient official bureaucracy.Research limitations/implicationsThe study presents the Malaysian construction industry’s view of the causes of corruption. Therefore, the arguments made in the study are influenced by the social, economic and cultural settings of Malaysia, which may limit generalisation of the findings.Practical implicationsThis paper helps stakeholders understand the root causes and underlying dimensions of corruption in the construction industry, especially in Malaysia. Recommendations for changing cultures that may be conducive to corrupt practices, and anti-corruption measures, are suggested based on the findings of the research.Originality/valueThese findings can guide practitioners and researchers in addressing the impediments that give rise to the vulnerability of the construction industry to corrupt practices and understanding the “red flags” in project delivery.

Corruption is a pervasive practice in Nigeria that is commonly associated with government officials who divert public funds for private use, while minimal attention is paid to acts of corruption in the educational sector. This study, which is part of research on how language is used to drive and conceal corruption in Nigeria, aims at revealing some corrupt practices in Nigerian higher institutions that are concealed because of the euphemistic language used by students to describe and help perpetuate corrupt practices in their relationships with academic and non-academic staff of different institutions. Four institutions of higher education in south-west Nigeria were purposively selected and focus group discussions were conducted with 54 conveniently selected students of these institutions to collect qualitative data on the explanation of linguistic codes derived from the first phase of this study. The findings revealed extensive usage of ‘runs’ as a superordinate code for diverse acts of corruption including: sex for marks, cash for marks, sex/cash for grade alterations, examination malpractice, and the use of fake documents. Parents and guardians need to listen closely to the language of students in higher education for early detection of assimilation and acceptance of corrupt practices as a way of life.

In this paper, a mathematical model of the transmission dynamics of corruption among populace is analyzed. The corruption free equilibrium state, characteristic equation and Eigen values of the corruption model were obtained. The basic reproductive number of the corruption model was also determined using the next generation operator technique at the corruption free equilibrium points. The condition for the stability of the corruption free equilibrium state was determined. The local stability analysis of the mathematical model of corruption was done and the results were presented and discussed accordingly. Recommendations were made from the results on measures to reduce the rate of corrupt practices among the populace.

Governments and organizations, especially governments in developing countries, have witnessed project failures in their project implementation, although there might be some differences in the causes, effects and consequences of such failures among governments. This study aimed at investigating the causes, effects and consequences of project failures in developing countries with particular reference to Nigeria, through literature review. Information on project failures in Africa, Asia and little in Europe were sourced through journals, books and newspapers. It was apparent that project failure is very frequent in developing countries and in particular, Nigeria, with several causes, effects and consequences. Some of the causes established were poor financial capacity; inaccurate costing and corruption; incompetence and lack of knowledge; poor planning and estimation; poor communication; poor contracting and contractor practices; frequent design scope changes and errors; socio-cultural and political interference; poor leadership and corruption. The effects of project failure were found to be loss of revenue to the state; project cost overruns; loss of revenue by citizens; substandard infrastructure and low empowerment to community. The resultant consequences were slow economic growth; sector-centric underdevelopment; loss of foreign aid/grants; tougher donor regulations; loss of elections to incumbent leadership and lack of confidence in state from financial institutions. It is recommended that Nigerian government should overhaul its policy architecture to mitigating the causes of project failure, and in particular, stemming down corruption. Keywords: Government projects, project failure, poor implementation, corrupt practices, inadequate planning

Can corruption be used to improve re-election chances of politicians in office? What is the optimal level of corruption for doing so? In this paper I use suspicious patterns of public procurement allocations in local government as a proxy measurement of corruption, based on combining quantitative and qualitative evidence on corrupt practices in local government. I then tie suspicious procurements to re-election probabilities of mayors in Croatian cities and municipalities from 2009 to 2017, and find that due to a rent-extracting relationship formed between firms and political elites, local politicians can engage in potential corruption and still win elections. There is an optimal level of suspicious procurements for which politicians maximize their re-election chances. When a mayor surpasses the cut-off level of around 20% of suspiciously allocated funds from public procurement his or her probability of re-election starts to decline, while he or she loses office for at least one half of all procurements allocated suspiciously. In order to address potential endogeneity issues I apply a fuzzy regression discontinuity design based on population thresholds that determine the size of the local council, where the intensity of the treatment (potential corruption) increases with increasing council size. The results overall confirm the hypothesized nonlinear relationship between corruption and re-election.

Corruption in higher education has raised concern among governments, citizens, and the education community worldwide. However, few papers have sought to explore the students’ willingness to engage in corrupt practices at the university level. The present study aimed to examine the influence of different corrupt behaviours and perceived corruption among peers on the corrupt intention of university students. 120 undergraduate students participated in a quasi-experimental design divided in 3 treatments (control, low-corruption acceptance, high-corruption acceptance) to rate their willingness to engage in favouritism and embezzlement behaviours. Results pointed out that students were more prone to committing a non-monetary behaviour favouritism– than a monetary behaviour –embezzlement–. Furthermore, there were not significant differences between the groups of control and high-corruption acceptance; while only the group of low-corruption acceptance showed significant lower rates when compared to the control and the high-corruption acceptance’s group. Practical recommendations need to address students’ perceptions of different corrupt practices, focusing on designing ethical training programmes aimed to raise awareness on the negative consequences of non-monetary activities. Future research directions could generate empirical support to prove if students are able to recognize the underlying mechanisms of subtle corrupt practices.

Institutional isomorphism emerged in the 1960s and 1970s to show how institutions in different countries develop similarities through imitation. Countries such as Japan, Singapore, and Hong Kong gained massive success by copying successful initiatives from all over the world. Similarly, anti-corruption agencies such as the Singapore Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau and the Hong Kong Independent Commission Against Corruption become global models for combating corruption. Donors such as World Bank, Asian Development Bank, suggest many developing countries create agencies like those to combat corruption. Bangladesh is one of the countries that chose those models and formed an anti-corruption commission (ACC) based on isomorphic pressure from international donors. The aim of this paper is to identify the problems of this isomorphic approach to combating corruption in Bangladesh through the ACC. Based on elite interviews with key informants and document analysis, this paper argues that despite the ACC is an excellent initiative, following the global isomorphism of the ACA model has proved somewhat frustrating. Findings suggest that the ineffectiveness of the ACC is mainly related to failures involving both structure and agency as well as problems within the ACC. Results indicate that these failures have created a ‘toothless tiger’ ACA in Bangladesh.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the various anti-corruption strategies used to fight economic and financial crimes in both the public and private sectors in Iran. Design/methodology/approach This paper relied essentially on a secondary source of information. Materials used were collected in an eclectic manner from published outlets such as journal publications, books, online sources and newspaper reports. Also, official documents and statutes were also used. This study’s scope is limited to issues and analysis relating to measures adopted to combat corruption in Iran. Findings The legal and institutional frameworks analysed indicated that Iran has a robust anti-corruption scheme. However, there is no adequate measure available to gauge the effectiveness of these measures. Practical implications The paper concludes that conventional anti-corruption methods are not enough to fight corruption in this present time, thus, the implementation of whistle-blower policy and allowing freedom of operation of the civil society organisations and media would assist in the fight against corruption in Iran. Originality/value The paper provides the legal and institutional anti-corruption frameworks in Iran. It explores the three major approaches or methods of combating corruption and other corrupt practices in Iran.

The persistence of corruption in Russia is seen in path-dependent political structures on the one hand, while, on the other hand, concrete corruption-promoting mechanisms can be theoretically described at the level of the actor. The former approach lacks a general explanation of corruption, while the latter lacks the immanent possibility of embedding corrupt practices in specific cultural patterns. Recent approaches in organizational research promise a fruitful connection of both via the idea of organizational corruption, which explains corruption as a normalization process in an organizational context. The present article aims at extending this approach by an analytical model of decision-making in organizations based on a neo-institutional framework. Decision-making situations will be constructed in the activity structure of organizations as the tension between formal-legal requirements and the legitimate goals of the organization as set out in the formal structure. Depending on whether decisions are oriented in accordance or or against legal requirements and the legitimate goals of the organization, a compliant decision, individual corruption, organizational corruption or whistle blowing becomes more likely. Thus, the link between different cultural concepts in Russia and corruption are systematically highlighted and integrated into the present model. It is shown that culturalhistorical patterns cannot be generalized to Russia, but often only promote corruption when specifically embedded in organizations.

Contemporary research is geared towards integrating multidisciplinary domains and targeted to developing robust solutions This implies that single-discipline solutions most times do not give the desired results This study intends to apply this concept statement in mitigating the hydra-headed challenge facing the world today called sharp-practice (corruption) which some believe that it is worse than the current severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) The sharp practice is a major challenge in the world today and a threat to the development of any country Sharp practices range from higher offices of the state institutions to the small offices located in remote and rural local areas Non-profit Organizations (NPOs) are also affected by sharp practices as the office-bearers of these institutions are constantly misappropriating donors’ funds meant for these facilities for their selfish interests State and private donors offer a large portion of their resources to NPOs to improve the standard of living of needy people in remote and rural areas However, most NPOs sited in rural areas do not have systems that can be used to monitor and capture the management of resources In this paper, we attempt to solve this challenge by proposing the integrating Smartphone Network Architecture (SMA) and Data Security Techniques (DST) to mitigate sharp practices in NPOs In our approach, a smartphone-mobile app algorithm was developed using JavaScript The app uses the Least Significant Bits (LSB) method to secretly embed a Date Stamp on a PNG image whenever an event is captured by a secret camera at the NPO’s center The results showed that the LSB method is the most suitable technique to embed a small-scale secret data on the pixels of a PNG image file The LSB technique does not require the original cover image for decoding the secret data hidden in the image over the network From the study, these techniques have shown to improve accountability and alleviate corrupt practices in NPOs © 2020 Journal of Communications

The article presents an analytical review of modern domestic and foreign research on the sociology of corruption and the psychology of a corrupt person. The necessity of an interdisciplinary study of attitudes towards corruption as well as mental and situational prerequisites for corrupt behavior is substantiated. The empirical results presented in the article are based on data from a large-scale survey conducted in 2018 by experts from the All-Russian “Znanie” Society in cooperation with the National Education Resources Foundation. As a result of the study, a detailed picture of Russians’ ideas about the essence and causes of corruption in Russia, typical behavioral reactions to corrupt situations, and the degree of the citizens’ interest in overcoming corruption was obtained. In the course of a survey of Russians, the dominant ideas about the consequences of corrupt actions were revealed, and feedback was obtained on the effectiveness of methods to fight corruption. There are contradictions in the attitude of the Russians to corruption, which were revealed. The overwhelming majority of respondents avoids corrupt behavior and understand the costs of corruption for the country’s economy and social development. Almost half of the respondents consider corrupt practices an immoral act, but they will not hesitate to violate legal and cultural norms when it comes to the threat to life and specialized medical care for themselves and loved ones. With a high degree of condemnation of corrupt behavior and recognition of severe punishment of corrupt officials as the most effective measures, the Russians are practically not ready to support the institutions of control and punishment, to participate in the suppression of corruption. The results obtained can be useful for the continued search for reasons of why Russians have a relatively tolerant attitude towards corruption, as well as the reasons for their involvement in corrupt behavior.

There is a lot of debate in Pakistan on and about the poor performance of the government and the bureaucracy. The performance of the government is marred by the corrupt practices, inefficiencies and waste. The political leadership and bureaucracy both are publically called corrupt and stories appear on news, media channels every now and then of the corruption scandals, misuse of authority and wasteful working. We rank the lowest amongst the nations in terms of basic government services like education and healthcare. This paper aims to highlight the reasons of this poor performance and recommends a workable performance management program which can help the government in improving the performance of its various functions. It also gives an over view of the current practices of performance management system in the public sector of Pakistan and discusses briefly the history of performance management in the modern world. Most importantly we discuss the challenges we face while implementing a performance management system in government sector, what are the differences between a private sector performance management program and the problems we face when we implement it in public sector in a developing world specially in a country like Pakistan. The challenges become even more profound when we face a democracy where the political interference has destroyed the core of the bureaucratic structure. But all is not lost since many reforms over the past few decades put in place by successive governments have at-least paved the way for a more progressive performance management program which can help Pakistan deliver on its promise of becoming a great Islamic republic. The Islamic republic of Pakistan.

This research aimed to analyze the insertion of anti-corruption education in Islamic education. In the context of anti-corruption education, especially students in tertiary institutions, corrupt practices are manifested in the form of corrupt behavior, such as plagiarism, cheating, truancy, and hitchhiking in group assignments, even though they do not contribute. Anti-corruption education in Islamic education has so far used a dogmatic approach, not using an approach that has a transformative impact, especially neuroscience. In this case, Universitas Ahmad Dahlan, with lecturers who have special competence as anti-corruption trainers, has carried out anti-corruption education in various scientific fields, including Islamic education. This phenomenological type of qualitative research involved 52 students and six lecturers in the master study program of Islamic education. The results showed that anti-corruption education was carried out through insertion into all relevant subjects, especially the neuroscience of Islamic education. The lecturer investigates students' corrupt behavior in anticipation of future corruption crimes. The investigation results show that the most corrupt behavior of students is plagiarism, taking names in group assignments, and leaving absences with friends. The insertion of anti-corruption education with a neuroscience approach is applied in building integrity awareness that corrupt behavior is contrary to how the brain works and even has the potential to destroy reason.

This chapter looks at FOI from a cultural perspective and asks the question, does FOI exist at all in postwar Sierra Leone, and if so, what is the nature of the FOI that Sierra Leone currently purports to enjoy? Given the preoccupation of this work with FOI as a mode to combat corruption, it comes as no surprise therefore that this discussion is initiated with a commentary on corruption, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), ‘Shadow Statism’ and some of the socio-cultural factors that exacerbate the problem of corruption. This chapter adopts perhaps more than all the others a formidable advocative. It vividly describes how Sierra Leone’s postwar regimes simply went ahead with business as usual in the sense of continuing longstanding corrupt practices. For the first time, it introduces us to the notion of the ‘civil war mentality,’ which is a Sierra Leonean cultural and political allusion. This chapter discusses the roles of kinship ties and religion in fostering and exacerbating the incidence of corrupt activities in Sierra Leone. It underlines how the social ills bred by corruption continue to exist and to threaten stability. The first thorough exposition on the ‘culture of secrecy’, which exists in Sierra Leone, and informs that it was spawned from a curious intersection of colonial laws and the indigenous culture. This chapter then proceeds to conduct a practical analysis of the current state of the media and attempts to assess whether there is at present authentic FOI.

Recent experimental evidence reveals that information is often avoided by decision makers in order to create and exploit a so-called “moral wiggle room,” which reduces the psychological and moral costs associated with selfish behavior. Despite the relevance of this phenomenon for corrupt practices from both a legal and a moral point of view, it has hitherto never been examined in a corruption context. We test for information avoidance in a framed public procurement experiment, in which a public official receives bribes from two competing firms and often faces a tradeoff between maximizing bribes and citizen welfare. In a treatment where officials have the option to remain ignorant about the implications of their actions for citizens, we find practically no evidence of information avoidance. We discuss possible reasons for the absence of willful ignorance in our experiment.

The article deals with the issues of criminal responsibility and prevention of corruption criminal offenses in the provisions of separate international documents – conventions, resolutions, declarations, model codes and so on. It is established that the main international documents, regulating the issues of international cooperation of different countries of the world in the field of criminal responsibility and prevention of corruption criminal offenses, were approved between 1975 and 2010, but only some of them were ratified by Ukraine. Considering the importance, adherence to principles, practical significance or unexploredness of certain international anti-corruption instruments for criminal law and criminology in a comparative legal context, the following scientific studies were elaborated: the Inter-American Convention against Corruption 1996 (Aadopted at the third plenary session of the Organization of American States); the United Nations Declaration against Corruption and Bribery in International Commercial Transactions (1996); the Model Law on Combating Corruption (Adopted at the 13th plenary session of the CIS Inter-Parliamentary Assembly of States, 1999); the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (2000); the African Union Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption (2003); The United Nations Convention against Corruption (2003); the Arab Anti-Corruption Convention (2010). It is established that in some international anti-corruption conventions the concepts of «corruption» and «bribery» are distinguished from each other, and in others it may be stated that such forms tantamount to deeds of corruption or acts of corruption; in certain conventions, the issue of criminal responsibility for corruption criminal offenses is regulated more broadly than the issue of preventing it, while in others it is narrow; in practice, it is difficult or virtually impossible to establish, for all states and international communities, the definition of corruption criminal offenses and their list; problematic is the inaccurate, inconsistent and rudimentary terminology used in a number of conventions, as well as their incorrect translation into Ukrainian. Concerning the prevention of corruption criminal offenses, the problem in international legal documents is: the existence of the possibility of making reservations; lack of mechanisms to effectively monitor the implementation of convention provisions and control compliance with their requirements; focusing primarily on the prevention of graft and bribery instead of other corrupt practices; the narrowness of the circle of parties to the conventions, to which not only states, but also international organizations should contribute, and so on.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the moderating effect of task complexity on external auditors’ cooperation (EAC), top management empowerment and internal auditors’ independence, which affect internal auditors’ effectiveness in the Jordanian public sector. Design/methodology/approach This paper utilised 117 usable questionnaires from financial managers and internal audit (IA) managers of the Jordanian public sector institutions. The collected data were analysed using partial least squares-structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM). Findings The results reveal that EAC, top management empowerment, and internal auditors’ independence are the factors which positively and significantly affect the internal auditors’ effectiveness, as supported by the resource-based theory, with incomplete support for the task complexity’s role as a moderator. Practical implications The findings are important for the decision-makers and regulators in introducing new legislation and regulation for the IA profession in the Jordanian public sector. Social implications It is shown that the factors affecting the internal auditors’ effectiveness can definitely enhance their ability to achieve the role of IA in protecting public funds and limiting financial and administrative corrupt practices, particularly in the public sector. Originality/value To the best knowledge of the authors, this study is one of the first studies that addresses task complexity as an interaction effect on the factors affecting internal auditors’ effectiveness in the public sector.

Pakistan’s progress toward full democracy is dependent upon many variables. One major obstacle to establishment of a mature democracy is widespread corruption, which penetrates deep into the instit...

Political corruption as a social phenomenon exists in virtually all countries of the world, including those that most researchers consider as “benchmarks” in terms of the development of democracy. At the same time, there is a steady tendency towards the growth of political corruption and the evolution of corruption practices in developed democratic countries. Problems of political corruption in the professional literature are given a lot of attention but the issues related to the peculiarities of the experience of fighting political corruption in the EU in the context of the introduction of appropriate practices in Ukraine remain insufficiently researched. In the context of reforming the modern Ukrainian society, the study of problems of preventing and counteracting corruption is extremely relevant for a number of reasons: firstly, corrupt practices in the government machinery are the main obstacle to the implementation of any reforms; secondly, the high level of corruption in society, as evidenced by the results of the World CPI Corruption Perception Index 2015, decreases public confidence in the government; thirdly, it is necessary to implement the anti-corruption recommendations of the Action Plan on Visa Liberalization from the European Union (EU); fourthly, the reduction of corruption would contribute to attracting international investment, and so on. The purpose of the article is to identify features of counteraction to corruption in the countries of the European Union and to analyse the formation of government administration as the main precondition for narrowing the corruption space. To achieve this purpose, the following goals were set: to determine the level of implementation of international anti-corruption standards in the government practice of Ukraine; to investigate the formation and development of anti-corruption institutions; to analyse the experience of anti-corruption institutions in the EU; to investigate the formation of informational transparency of government space; to analyse the ratings of Ukraine regarding data openness; to find out the features of E-Declaration models as an element of public control of anti-corruption institutions in the system of public administration. Reaffirming its European aspirations, during 2001–2018, Ukraine ratified several laws in relation to the formation of anti-corruption standards: a) general and on liability for corruption offenses and offenses related to corruption; b) documents on the activities of specialized agencies for fighting corruption; c) documents on ethical rules, anti-corruption restrictions and prohibitions for certain officials and on the prevention of political corruption; d) documents on the prevention of corruption in the economy and sports; e) documents on access to information. This allows asserting that in general the legislative framework for the prevention of corruption in Ukraine has already been established. Despite the adoption of many laws, out of 200 anti-corruption measures, which, according to the State Program for the implementation of the Anticorruption Strategy, had to be implemented by state bodies by the end of 2018, about 35% had not been implemented. Anticorruption strategy for 2019 and subsequent years and the State Program for its implementation do not exist. Many important anti-corruption laws, which would help to further improve the Ukrainian economy, finance, the system of social protection of the population, and so on, were not adopted. Many of the problems that prevent effective use of the data obtained still need to be resolved. It is also necessary to find solutions for defining the electronic declaration of anti-corruption crusaders.

Purpose This study aims to assess the risks of systematisation of corruption in the UK following the Brexit referendum. Design/methodology/approach The study applies theoretical and empirical findings of criminological, social, psychological, economic and legal research on the causes of systemic corruption to the socio-institutional developments following the Leave vote. Findings The events surrounding the referendum confirm that the resort to corrupt practices is normalised in certain sectors of the British institutions, business and media and that socio-political processes activated by the Leave vote and inadequate UK policymaking and lawmaking can aggravate the situational and socio-psychological enablers of systemic corruption. Effective solutions must go beyond mere anti-corruption laws and address deeper social issues. Research limitations/implications The study focuses only on some of the major situational and socio-psychological causes of systemic corruption, including the unintended criminogenic effects of the law. More interdisciplinary research is required to address other causes, such as historical and cultural factors. Practical implications The findings of this study can inspire practical solutions by policymakers and future research. Social implications The study contributes to raising social awareness and stimulating public discussion on systemic corruption in the UK and on the consequences of the referendum on public and private integrity. Originality/value The study offers the first systematic analysis of the effects of Brexit and the referendum on corruption through an integrated interdisciplinary approach to systemic corruption in the UK.

Anti-corruption policy strategies in Finland and Singapore were examined, and lessons were drawn for Nigeria. Finland and Singapore were chosen because they are among the least fifth corrupt countries in the world from 2010 to 2017, and they have different norms. Another reason is that the norm in Finland is fairly similar to the norms of Sweden, Denmark, Norway, New Zealand, and Australia which are also among the least corrupt countries in the world, while the norm of Singapore is fairly similar to Hong Kong and Japan which are also among the least corrupt countries in the world. It was revealed that the case of Nigerian society is similar to that of Singaporean society. In Finland, it was observed that anti-corruption measures and institutions are weak as it does not have a separate unit dedicated to investigate or prosecute corruption-related offences, but there is a guiding principle such that anti-corruption measures are integrated into general good governance policy grounded on the rule of law. Also in Singapore, anti-corruption was achieved through anti-corruption policy that has been in existence since the year 1959, although there was a situation of deplorable condition and widespread corrupt practices, but the new government in the late 1950s set up a strategy which resulted that top political leaders set themselves as role models for civil servants and showing zero tolerance for corrupt behaviour. Finally, recommendations were suggested.

Corruption is an extraordinary crime (extraordinary crime), so the handling must be done with extraordinary efforts. In this reform era, corruption is increasingly rampant involving various actors, from the central government to the lowest. From Transparency International (TI) data, Indonesia's 2017 Corruption Perception Index (CPI) is 37 and is ranked 96 out of 180 countries surveyed globally. Responding to the increasingly prevalent phenomenon of corruption, the world of education has begun to improve to answer the challenges of the swift currents of corruption. One of the efforts made is curriculum change. Curriculum changes that have been intensively discussed lately are the inclusion of anti-corruption character education at the pre-school to tertiary education levels. The purpose of this activity is to provide OSIS administrators with an understanding of anti-corruption character education, including understanding, rules, and implementation of anti-corruption character education in junior high schools. In contrast, the methods used are lectures, question and answer methods, and simulations with film screenings about anti-corruption characters in schools. The results of this activity showed that of the 30 (thirty) OSIS administrators who attended this event, almost 99% of them knew that corruption was a violation of the law. They could also explain corrupt practices that occurred in the school environment and their family environment, and sometimes they also become the perpetrator of the action.

Many governments of both resource-rich and resource-poor countries have recently started to use local content policies as a tool in their industrial policies. However, careless implementation of local content policies can lead to corrupt practices and threaten firm performance. Using the World Bank Enterprise Survey of 933 Kazakhstani firms in 2009 and 2013, we study the effect of corruption on employment and sales growth and the role that explicit local content policy plays in this relationship. Our findings demonstrate that corruption has “a greasing the wheels effects”, facilitating employment growth and sales growth in Kazakhstani firms. In case of securing a government contract, corruption will have a larger effect on sales growth than on job growth. This study provides insights and implications for contract law and industrial policy in Kazakhstan.