Research topics

What is corruption? The basics of corruption and anti-corruption efforts for sustainable and inclusive development

30 Research topics

Anti-corruption agencies

How to assess and improve anti-corruption institutions' performance.

Updated 17 October 2023

Anti-corruption basics

The conditions that facilitate corruption and the general implications for development programming.

Updated 31 March 2025

Anti-corruption courts

Find information on why we may need specialised anti-corruption courts including possible designs and performance analyses.

Updated 11 December 2024

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 28 October 2021

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 28 October 2021

Civil society

People at large can play an important role in holding power to account and addressing problems of corruption.

Updated 20 December 2024

Climate change

Practitioners working on climate mitigation and adaptation efforts need to understand how corruption impacts such initiatives.

Updated 5 February 2025

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 31 March 2025

Development cooperation

Research on corruption and anti-corruption endeavours related to international aid and how donors address corruption risks.

Updated 31 March 2025

Education

Common types of corruption in the education sector and entry points for anti-corruption interventions in different sub-sectors.

Updated 28 October 2021

Evaluation and measurement

Increasing the impact of anti-corruption interventions through better planning, monitoring and evaluation.

Updated 8 April 2025

Gender

Insights on how to combine two subjects of mainstreaming in donor programming: gender and corruption.

Updated 31 March 2025

Health

Common types of corruption in the health sector and entry points for anti-corruption interventions in different health sub-sectors.

Updated 31 March 2025

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 14 April 2025

Human rights

Exploring the potential of human rights approaches in efforts to counter corruption

Updated 22 November 2024

Illicit financial flows

Laundering proceeds of corruption and generating illicit flows out of development countries – solutions needed at local and international levels.

Updated 3 April 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 31 March 2025

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 18 July 2024

Natural resources and energy

Understanding how corruption harms the environment and development, can help choose how to act.

Updated 26 November 2024

Oil, gas, and mining

We explain the link between these resources and corrupt behavior. Suggestions for anti-corruption efforts in extractive industries.

Updated 26 November 2024

Politics of anti-corruption

Entry-points for approaching politicised corruption

Updated 17 December 2024

Private sector

Find out how donors can work with the private sector to reduce corruption and improve developing country economies.

Updated 27 September 2024

Procurement

Guidance on how to implement procurement systems based on transparency, competition and integrity

Updated 26 October 2021

Public financial management

Research on corruption and anti-corruption in all sides of public financial management – revenues, budgets and spending.

Updated 28 January 2022

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 26 October 2021

Public service delivery

Learn how mainstreaming anti-corruption in sector strategies help to achieve sector goals.

Updated 1 December 2022

Renewable resources

How to understand and deal with the different corruption risks in renewable resource sectors to avoid devastating impacts.

Updated 31 March 2025

Social norms and networks

To be effective, anti-corruption policies should be designed with social norms in mind.

Updated 2 December 2022

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 31 January 2022

Ukraine

Resources in both English and Ukrainian on anti-corruption efforts in Ukraine, and useful lessons from elsewhere.

Updated 31 March 2025