Comparative analyses

U4 has commissioned a few research papers on comparative analyses of the U4 Partner Agencies' AC policies, strategies and projects; and we have also included a few studies from other sources.

Bilateral Donors and Anti-Corruption Work: The Myth of ‘Comparative Advantage’

Major donors working on corruption see a shared role for bilateral and multilateral donors based upon the principle of comparative advantage. However, conceptualisation and implementation of this principle is rather ad hoc. This paper provides an overview of major donors’ programmes (USAID, UNDP, DfID, EU, Nordics), highlighting the area identified by those organisations as their area of ‘comparative advantage’ and offers a preliminary evaluation of these claims. It also provides an overview of the applicability of comparative advantage to donor anti-corruption work and finds that although most donors express a desire to co-ordinate anti-corruption work around this principle, in reality it is ‘business as usual’. This raises questions about the effectiveness of aid for anti-corruption work if there continues to be a lack of co-ordination on the ground. (2001)

Corruption in Latin America - A Desk Assessment

The Americas’ Accountability Anti-Corruption Project has produced this comprehensive Desk Assessment of Corruption in Latin America. The report is a baseline overview providing the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) LAC bureau of an effective, realistic and comprehensive regional approach for the five-year strategic period 2004-2009. It points to recent trends (including levels and patterns of corruption) and programming approaches (existing approaches and their mixed, general lessons as well as potential new entry points for anti-corruption activities in Latin America). (2004)

Fighting the bug within

What are the Utstein agencies doing to protect their own organisations from corrupt behaviour? This study looks at the inhouse mechanisms, and highlights comparative aspects of political commitment, the legal framework, codes of conduct, organisation and training. Author: Harald Mathisen, CMI. (2003)

Synthesis of lessons learned of donor practices in fighting corruption

This report was prepared for the DAC Network on Governance by a team of consultants led by Mr. Bruce B. Bailey. The study is a review of donor experiences and lessons about what works or does not work in fighting corruption in developing countries. The study asks two basic and interrelated questions: What have we learned about fighting corruption, and what have donors learned from their own experiences? The paper is a highly recommended reading. (2003)

The Utstein partners' anti-corruption policies

This is a presentation of the Utstein anti-corruption policies, based on a study of available documentation. The intention is to present policies and strategies in a comparative framework. This presentation does not review progress in terms of the contribution that the respective strategies have made to actually reduce corruption. An examination of the anti-corruption strategies of the four Utstein partners show that there is some variation with respect to how the respective partners have organised their responses to the challenges. DFID’s strategy is most explicit in its recognition of the importance of closely integrated and holistic approaches. Commissioned by U4. Author: Johan Helland, researcher at Chr. Michelsen Institute, Norway.. (2002)