Public Sector Reform - Norman Flynn's

Concept Paper: Public Sector Reform – An IntroductionAnnex 1 - Governance and CorruptionAttempts to combat corruption and enhance transparency are often pursued alongsidepublic sector reform efforts. While improved administrative arrangements will lead to areduction in corruption, sometimes extra, specific reforms are required.The issue of ‘governance’ has been an important component of public sector reforms. The World Bank reports thatbetween 2000 and 2006, 38% of PSR projects had anti-corruption and transparency elements. Petty corruption,involving bribery of officials to obtain services or licences, and systemic high level corruption, involving embezzlementof public funds by senior politicians and officials, have a detrimental effect on public services, negatively affecting therelationship between the citizen and the state and reducing the levels of service available.Corruption, combined with inefficiency and badly designed systems, can have a negative effect on economic growth.Business development and investment can be seriously hampered by the amount of time and money necessary toget permission to build, invest and do business. While it may be difficult to attribute poor or reduced growth to a particularaspect of corruption and inefficiency, a generally negative investment environment can be detected.As well as impacting on business and investment, the same corruption and inefficiency can result in serious alienation ofthe citizens from the State. The Namibian government’s anti-corruption campaign lists the main causes of corruption 18 :ÎÎÎÎÎÎÎÎÎÎÎÎLow salaries, especially when linked to high job securityA gift culture, where small presents in exchange for services are normalThe absence of rules, regulations, polices and legislationA high degree of individual discretion for public servantsThe absence of transparencyThe absence of a watchdog institutionÎÎSocio-economic conditions in poor countries 18The Overseas Development Institute in the United Kingdom usefully classified corruption in the Chart, ‘Types of Corruption’.18 Sylvie Trosa, ‘La réforme de l’État : un nouveau management ?’, Paris: Ellipses, 2008, p.110 (my translation)34