Research topics
What is corruption? The basics of corruption and anti-corruption efforts for sustainable and inclusive development
31 Research topics
Anti-corruption agencies
How to assess and improve anti-corruption institutions' performance.
Updated 17 July 2025
Anti-corruption basics
The conditions that facilitate corruption and the general implications for development programming.
Updated 3 August 2026
Anti-corruption courts
Find information on why we may need specialised anti-corruption courts including possible designs and performance analyses.
Updated 3 July 2026
Auditing and financial control
Auditing and controls are essential parts of public financial management. Supreme Audit Institutions play a visible role, and support to strengthen these institutions has amplified. These institutions can be subject to political interference, politicisation, and wing-clipping.
Updated 19 May 2025
Budget process
Government income and expenditure are determined and allocated in the budget process. This process is usually divided into four or five stages, and corruption may influence all of them.
Updated 19 May 2025
Civil society
People at large can play an important role in holding power to account and addressing problems of corruption.
Updated 11 February 2026
Climate change
Practitioners working on climate mitigation and adaptation efforts need to understand how corruption impacts such initiatives.
Updated 2 November 2026
Corruption risk management and integrity
Corruption risk management is a process to identify, assess, and mitigate corruption risks within an organisation and its activities.
Updated 10 June 2026
Development cooperation
Research on corruption and anti-corruption endeavours related to international aid and how donors address corruption risks.
Updated 24 March 2026
Education
Common types of corruption in the education sector and entry points for anti-corruption interventions in different sub-sectors.
Updated 20 October 2026
Evaluation and measurement
Increasing the impact of anti-corruption interventions through better planning, monitoring and evaluation.
Updated 23 September 2026
Fragile and conflict-affected states
Corruption and security in fragile settings
Updated 11 May 2026
Gender
Insights on how to combine two subjects of mainstreaming in donor programming: gender and corruption.
Updated 20 October 2026
Health
Common types of corruption in the health sector and entry points for anti-corruption interventions in different health sub-sectors.
Updated 24 June 2026
Health emergencies and pandemics
Corruption thrives in emergencies. Well-planned anti-corruption, transparency, and accountability procedures are crucial to help save lives with effective handling of pandemics and health emergencies.
Updated 19 May 2025
Human rights
Exploring the potential of human rights approaches in efforts to counter corruption
Updated 27 April 2026
Illicit financial flows
Laundering proceeds of corruption and generating illicit flows out of development countries – solutions needed at local and international levels.
Updated 19 May 2025
Justice sector
Justice sector institutions can be part of the corruption problem. We look at ways to build effective, accountable, and inclusive institutions.
Updated 11 November 2026
Migration
Corruption is both a driver and enabler of migration. Corruption affects what happens in terms of development outcomes in migrants’ country of origin.
Updated 19 May 2025
Natural resources and energy
Understanding how corruption harms the environment and development, can help choose how to act.
Updated 1 July 2026
Oil, gas, and mining
We explain the link between these resources and corrupt behavior. Suggestions for anti-corruption efforts in extractive industries.
Updated 1 July 2026
Politics of anti-corruption
Entry-points for approaching politicised corruption
Updated 20 October 2026
Private sector
Find out how donors can work with the private sector to reduce corruption and improve developing country economies.
Updated 9 January 2026
Procurement
Guidance on how to implement procurement systems based on transparency, competition and integrity
Updated 19 May 2025
Public financial management
Research on corruption and anti-corruption in all sides of public financial management – revenues, budgets and spending.
Updated 5 March 2026
Public sector accounting
Weak procedures for managing the government’s financial transactions, assets, records, and reports can open up for corruption, embezzlement, and mismanagement of public resources. Good accounting procedures are a question of both technical skills and political will.
Updated 19 May 2025
Public service delivery
Learn how mainstreaming anti-corruption in sector strategies help to achieve sector goals.
Updated 20 October 2026
Renewable resources
How to understand and deal with the different corruption risks in renewable resource sectors to avoid devastating impacts.
Updated 23 June 2026
Social norms and networks
To be effective, anti-corruption policies should be designed with social norms in mind.
Updated 4 March 2026
Tax and revenue collection
Tax and revenue collection is an area open to damaging corruption. This is because taxation offers opportunities for both state officials and private actors to undermine government functions.
Updated 19 May 2025
Ukraine
Resources in both English and Ukrainian on anti-corruption efforts in Ukraine, and useful lessons from elsewhere.
Updated 4 October 2026