Anti-corruption research roundtable
DLP research fellow Dr Caryn Peiffer is among the contributors to a one-day roundtable discussion on corruption prevention research hosted by the Commonwealth Secretariat in London this week (Weds March 18).
The roundtable brings together academics, senior figures from Commonwealth governments and their judiciaries, and specialists from DFID and the World Bank. It aims to share best practice in anti-corruption research and identify which anti-corruption issues in Africa the secretariat should prioritise for its research agenda.
Caryn’s presentation will focus on her paper on corruption and collective action, co-authored with DLP Director Heather Marquette and published in January in collaboration with the U4 Anti-Corruption Resource Centre.
It argues that while both principal-agent and collective action approaches to corruption research can be useful, a third perspective is needed. Much research tends to ignore the fact that corruption can, in fact, be a pragmatic solution to the difficult problems people face in weak institutional environments. Without this perspective, research is unlikely to lead to effective anti-corruption initiatives.
