Background:
The Anti-Corruption Tool Kit has been prepared by the United Nations Global Programme against Corruption (GPAC). The purpose is "to help U.N. Member States and the public to understand the insidious nature of corruption, the potential damaging effect it can have on the welfare of entire nations and suggest measures used successfully by other countries in their efforts to uncover and deter corruption and build integrity".

Content:
Part one is a general introduction to what the tool kit covers, how to use it, forms of corruption, and lessons learned. The challenge is to find combinations or packages of tools that are appropriate for the task at hand, and to apply these tools in the most effective possible combinations and sequencing. A guide to help decide on the right combination and sequencing of tools is given in the general introduction.

Part two gives a general description of institution building followed by suggestions of anti-corruption strategies for reforming government institutions. The first three tools deal with the process and the assessment of the problem to be resolved, and what tools (policies, infrastructure, measures) are available to confront the problem. With these two assessments done, other tools can be selected from the tool kit and used applying the process described in tool 1. Part three to eight covers tools for prevention, public empowerment, enforcement, anti-corruption legislation, monitoring and evaluation, and international judicial co-operation.

The comprehensiveness of the tool kit demonstrates the complexities involved in devising anti-corruption programmes. Although there is no universal blueprint for fighting corruption, the tool kit provides some interesting correlations relevant for approaches concerned with systems of formal rules and institutions.

Governance Indicators: A Users’ Guide

The industry of indicators has produced a maze of indices, rankings and other lists that might overwhelm development practitioners. Serious concerns have been raised around the methodology behind some of these initiatives as well as on the utility of broadly aggregate indices to inform policy making at the country level. UNDP dissected the issue of indicators in its non-specialised users’ manual “Governance Indicators: A Users’ Guide”. The manual is useful for those interested in understanding the reasoning and assumptions behind indicators and indices, which and how data can be collected and how to best make use of listings available. It also brings a source guide, with detailed information on some of the current existing indices, including information about their methodology, type of data used and examples. (Also available in Spanish, French, and Arabic)

The Corruption Fighter's Tool Kit was created to share the experiences, best practices and lessons learned of Transparency International's chapters in the implementation of anti-corruption projects and programs. Illustrating the creative and innovative potential of initiatives worldwide, the aim is also to encourage replication of activities in different countries and contexts.

The four toolkits published since 2001 provide concrete examples of civil society action against corruption, embracing the entire spectrum of possible interventions: citizen's participation in monitoring public procurement, involvement in integrity pacts at national and municipal levels, assessments of the effectiveness of access to information policies, public awareness raising on corruption through people's theatre and radio campaigns, promoting business ethics in small- and medium-size enterprises, etc.

The different tools are presented in an easily accessible structure, providing basic information on the project (objectives, outputs) and a description of the activities undertaken; finally, the results are discussed, as well as challenges encountered and recommendations for any group that considers embarking on a similar project.

Background:
The handbook aims to assist USAID missions and their partners develop anti-corruption initiatives. It draws upon literature and practical experience to provide guidance on strategies for fighting corruption.

Content:
The handbook contains five sections. Section I is a short introduction. Section II lays out the development problems posed by corruption and articulates the need for anti-corruption programming. Section III provides a framework for developing responses to these problems. Guidelines for prioritising and sequencing anti-corruption activities in various situations are offered. Section IV provides an overview of USAID anti-corruption efforts from 1996 to date. Suggestive indicators for monitoring performances can be found here. Section V provides an overview of other donors and organisations working in this field.

The handbook gives an overview of alternative anti-corruption initiatives, but coverage is rather sparse (23 pages). Interestingly, motives for fighting corruption are connected both to the undermining of development and global trade. Understanding not only institutional attributes, but also societal attitudes are emphasised as essential. The handbook has not been updated since 1999.

UNDP (2008)
A Users’ Guide to Measuring Corruption

This book is targeted at national stakeholders, donors and international actors involved in corruption measurement and anti-corruption programming. It explains the strengths and limitations of different measurement approaches, and provides practical guidance on how to use the indicators and data generated by corruption measurement tools to identify entry points for anti-corruption programming.

Uses and Abuses of Governance Indicators
Arndt, Christiane and Oman, Charles (2006)

This study (available for purchase from OECD) seeks to clarify current trends in the use and misuse of governance indicators as these indicators are applied to developing countries. It includes an in-depth analysis of the most carefully constructed and widely-used governance indicators, those produced by Daniel Kaufmann and his team at the World Bank Institute. The paper argues that composite perceptions-based indicators lack transparency and comparability over time, suffer from selection bias, and are not weel suited to help developing countries identify how effectively to improve the quality of local governance. Fact-based indicators are not necessarily more objective. The authors argue that governance indicators should be based on publicly-available data sets derived from facts, experiences and/or perceptions of diverse, clearly-defined population groups both within and outside the country in question

Measuring Corruption in Eastern Europe and Central Asia: A critique of the cross-country indicators
Knack, Stephen (2005)

This paper assesses corruption levels and trends among countries in the transition countries of Eastern Europe and Central Asia. One interesting finding was the lack of correlation between corruption in public procurement reported by firms and broader, perception-based indicators. In addition to an analysis of corruption measurement in the region, the author usefully includes a general "primer on corruption indicators" which outlines definitional and methodological differences between data sources. Composite indices are conceptually less precise than single sources. A major problems is that many give more weight to sources that correlate highly with each other. In the case of expert surveys, high correlation is a natural result of the fact that "experts" read the same analyses as well as each others' rankings. The author argues for broader use of firm, household and public official surveys to identify more specific corruption problems for programming purposes.