Measurement Matters IACA

The Global Programme for Measuring Corruption ('GPMC') recently held a 'think-in' in Vienna, to examine how we measure state capture.

State capture is a systematic type of corruption with the potential to transform the state or parts of it by shaping the rules of the game to benefit vested interests.

However, existing measures of corruption are inadequate to discern the prevalence of state capture from that of petty forms of corruption, suggesting that a change of course is needed if the aim is to produce appropriate policy responses to the phenomenon.

State capture may also have particularly long term and harmful consequences, so measuring it is important to ascertain its costs, as well as to assess trends and the effectiveness of remedial actions.

So the GPMC assembled a team of practitioners and academics to debate and discuss the topic over three days in Vienna, in May 2023.

In this podcast, the co-organisers of the 'think-in' Liz David-Barrett and Daniel Kaufmann reflect on what they learnt from the event, and how it could affect future work in the field.

The podcast is a companion piece to the GMPC insights brief, written after the event, which explains why a targeted shift to state capture measurement is useful, takes stock of various approaches to the topic, and analyses their promise and pitfalls. Further, it outlines a diversity of indicators and data sources that can be harnessed to measure state capture at the country level and sets out some questions for future research.

Link to Daniel Kaufmann and Joel Hellman’s original 2000 paper on state capture: "Seize the State, Seize the Day" : State Capture, Corruption, and Influence in Transition

Link to Liz David-Barrett's paper on state capture from March 2023 entitled: State capture and development: a conceptual framework

Link to a Sussex University blog post about the above paper.

Link to Daniel Kaufmann bio (from the Brookings Institute site)

If you want to find out more about the Global Programme for Measuring Corruption:

https://www.iaca.int/measuring-corruption

How we measure corruption shapes how we view and address the problem, and those on the frontline of fighting corruption know that more than anyone.

The Global Programme for Measuring Corruption ('GPMC') recently held a 'think-in' in Vienna, to examine one area where there is particular demand to improve measurement - the effectiveness of Anti-Corruption Agencies.

Anti-corruption agencies (ACAs) have become the institutional cornerstone of combating corruption worldwide. Yet, systematic evidence about whether, or in what conditions they are effective is scant.

So the GPMC assembled a team of practitioners and academics to debate and discuss the topic over three days in Vienna in June 2023.

In this podcast, the co-organisers of the 'think-in' Liz David-Barrett and Sofie Schütte reflect on what they learnt from the event, and how it could affect future work in the field.

The podcast is a companion piece to this GPMC Insights Brief, written after the event, that presents guidance to ACA practitioners and policymakers on what existing tools can be utilized to design and carry out capacity and effectiveness measurement programmes, and what gaps remain.

It also outlines investigative performance indicators to aid ACAs in identifying useful metrics to evaluate their performance, and advice about how to interpret them.

Link to more information about The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime recent global conference on harnessing data to improve corruption measurement.

Link to Sofie Schütte's bio:

Link to the blog post mentioned by Sofie in the podcast and published prior to think-in.

The agency Sofie Schütte works for (https://www.u4.no) has produced topic pages on ACAs and measurement:

Anti-corruption agencies (u4.no)

Evaluation and measurement (u4.no)

Listeners can find further U4 resources there.

If you want to find out more about the Global Programme for Measuring Corruption:

https://www.iaca.int/measuring-corruption

Link to the Solutions Journalism Network mentioned in the podcast:

www.solutionsjournalism.org

Celestino Calabrese is the UK National Crime Agency’s threat lead for Money Laundering, Bribery, Corruption, and financial sanctions.

He has eight years of experience in tackling economic crime in both intelligence and strategic leadership roles.

Celestino is also the NCA’s lead on a wide portfolio of priorities including but not limited to: Companies House Reform, the Registration of Overseas Entities Bill, and Tier One Investor Visa Reform.

His work has been a driving force behind recent legislative and policy shifts within His Majesty’s Government.

In this episode he discusses; why his Agency is interested in how illicit financial flows from grand corruption are measured; and why it's important for the Agency's work.

Background to the podcast

The Global Programme for Measuring Corruption ('GPMC') recently held a 'think-in' at their HQ in the International Anti-Corruption Academy, in Vienna, to examine one area that is particularly hard to measure – Illicit Financial Flows, or IFFs, and specifically the IFFs that arise from grand corruption.

The GPMC assembled a team of practitioners and academics to debate and discuss the topic over three days in Vienna.

And this podcast was recorded at the 'think-in'

If you enjoyed this conversation, and would like to listen to a round-up of the whole 'think-in' we have just the podcast for you.

https://measurement-matters.zencast.website/episodes/measuring-illicit-financial-flows-from-grand-corruption

In it the co-organisers Liz David Barrett and Ken Okamura - discuss why they chose the topic, what they learnt from the 'think-in' and how it will inform future work.

We also have a podcast with Matt Collin (mentioned in this podcast) discussing a working paper (he's co-authored) about the impact of the UK’s new laws on beneficial ownership transparency.

https://measurement-matters.zencast.website/episodes/the-end-of-londongrad-the-impact-of-beneficial-ownership-transparency-on-offshore-investment-in-uk-property

If you would like to read an overview of the whole 'think-in' here’s our key insights brief published afterwards.

If you want to find out more about the programme, visit this link:

https://www.iaca.int/measuring-corruption

And if you have specific questions please feel free to email the team: gpmc@iaca.int

How we measure corruption shapes how we view and address the problem - but measuring corruption is also extraordinarily difficult and complex.

The Global Programme for Measuring Corruption ('GPMC') recently held a 'think-in' at their HQ in the International Anti-Corruption Academy, in Vienna, to examine one area that is particularly hard to measure – Illicit Financial Flows, or IFFs, and specifically the IFFs that arise from grand corruption.

The GPMC assembled a team of practitioners and academics to debate and discuss the topic over three days in Vienna.

In this podcast recorded at the 'think-in', Bob Rijkers, a Senior Economist at the World Bank, discusses a paper he co-authored about using using customs declarations data to detect IFFs.

Here is the link to his published paper on corruption in Madagascar customs: https://academic.oup.com/qje/article/138/1/575/6695012

The working paper version can be found here: https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/726921634045778647/pdf/Corruption-in-Customs.pdf

The Tunisia research can be found here: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0304387816300608

The working paper can be found here: https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/440461468173649062/pdf/WPS6810.pdf

If you enjoyed this conversation, and would like to listen to a round-up of the whole 'think-in' we have just the podcast for you.

https://measurement-matters.zencast.website/episodes/measuring-illicit-financial-flows-from-grand-corruption

In it, the co-organisers Liz David Barrett and Ken Okamura - discuss why they chose the topic, what they learnt from the 'think-in' and how it will inform future work.

If you would like to read an overview of the whole 'think-in' here’s our key insights brief published afterwards.

If you want to find out more about the programme, visit this link:

https://www.iaca.int/measuring-corruption

And if you have specific questions please feel free to email the team: gpmc@iaca.int

How we measure corruption shapes how we view and address the problem but measuring corruption is also extraordinarily difficult and complex.

The Global Programme for Measuring Corruption ('GPMC') recently held a 'think-in' at their HQ in the International Anti-Corruption Academy, in Vienna, to examine one area that is particularly hard to measure – Illicit Financial Flows, or IFFs, and specifically the IFFs that arise from grand corruption.

The GPMC assembled a team of practitioners and academics to debate and discuss the topic over three days in Vienna.

In this podcast recorded at the 'think-in' Tymon Kiepe discusses: his work in this field, what beneficial ownership transparency means, its relevance to tracking illicit financial flows and all the important developments around ownership registers.

If you enjoyed this conversation, and would like to listen to a round-up of the whole 'think-in' we have just the podcast for you.

https://measurement-matters.zencast.website/episodes/measuring-illicit-financial-flows-from-grand-corruption

In it the co-organisers Liz David Barrett and Ken Okamura - discuss why they chose the topic, what they learnt from the 'think-in' and how it will inform future work.

We also have a podcast with Matt Collin (the academic Tymon mentions in this podcast) discussing a working paper (he's co-authored) about the impact of the UK’s new laws on beneficial ownership transparency.

https://measurement-matters.zencast.website/episodes/the-end-of-londongrad-the-impact-of-beneficial-ownership-transparency-on-offshore-investment-in-uk-property

If you would like to read an overview of the whole 'think-in' here’s our key insights brief published afterwards.

If you want to find out more about the programme, visit this link:

https://www.iaca.int/measuring-corruption

And if you have specific questions please feel free to email the team: gpmc@iaca.int

How we measure corruption shapes how we view and address the problem but measuring corruption is also extraordinarily difficult and complex.

The Global Programme for Measuring Corruption ('GPMC') recently held a 'think-in' at their HQ in the International Anti-Corruption Academy, in Vienna, to examine one area that is particularly hard to measure – Illicit Financial Flows, or IFFs, and specifically the IFFs that arise from grand corruption.

The GPMC assembled a team of practitioners and academics to debate and discuss the topic over three days in Vienna.

In this podcast recorded at the 'think-in' Navin Beekarry - Director-General of the Independent Commission Against Corruption in Mauritius since 2016 - discusses his work in this field, in particular his Commission's use of 'politically exposed persons' lists.

If you enjoyed this conversation, and would like to listen to a round-up of the whole 'think-in' - we have just the podcast for you.

https://measurement-matters.zencast.website/episodes/measuring-illicit-financial-flows-from-grand-corruption

In it the co-organisers Liz David Barrett and Ken Okamura - discuss why they chose the topic, what they learnt from the 'think-in' and how it will inform future work.

If you would like to read more on the topic, here’s our key insights brief published after the 'think-in'.

If you want to find out more about the programme, visit this link:

https://www.iaca.int/measuring-corruption

And if you have specific questions please feel free to email the team: gpmc@iaca.int