Review of anti-corruption strategies Rob McCusker - Australian ...

Connell J 2006. Nauru: the first failed Pacific State? Round table 95(383): 47–63
This paper argues that in recent years supposedly ‘failed states’ have been recognised in the Pacific.
Nauru, once rich, has acquired most of the characteristics of a failed state, in large part because of the
consequences of an extreme ‘resource curse’ scenario, where other economic sectors fail. Mining of
phosphate is now almost over. Wasteful expenditure, especially on a national airline and the panoply of a
‘welfare state’, and inadequate health services and education systems created budget deficits but not the
skills required to develop an alternative economy to mining. The collapse of a corrupt offshore banking
and passport system emphasised this failure. Political systems have been too inexperienced, short-term
and divided to stabilise the political economy. Regional external intervention has occurred and may lead
to extensive emigration from Nauru and to a new political status.
Dreher A & Schneider F 2006. Corruption and the shadow economy: an empirical analysis. Institute for
the Study of Labor discussion paper series
This paper analyses the influence of the shadow economy on corruption and vice versa. It is
hypothesised that corruption and shadow economy are substitutes in high income countries while
they are complements in low income countries. The hypotheses are tested for a cross-section of 120
countries and a panel of 70 countries for the period 1994–2002. The results show that the shadow
economy reduces corruption in high income countries, but increases corruption in low income countries.
The paper also finds that stricter regulations increase both corruption and the shadow economy.
Everett J, Neu D & Rahaman A 2006. The global fight against corruption: a Foucaultian, virtues–ethics
framing. Journal of business ethics 65(1): 1–12
This paper extends the discussion of business ethics by examining the issue of corruption, its definition,
the solutions being proposed for dealing with it, and the ethical perspectives underpinning these
proposals. The paper’s findings are based on a review of association, think-tank, and academic reports,
books, and papers dealing with the topic of corruption, as well as the pronouncements, websites, and
position papers of a number of important global organisations active in the fight. The paper’s discussion
departs from prior analyses by adopting a Foucaultian theoretical framing and by incorporating insights
found in the virtue ethics literature. Implications are provided for international business organisations.
Fritzen S 2006. Discipline and democratize: patterns of bureaucratic accountability in Southeast Asia.
International journal of public administration (forthcoming) http://www.spp.nus.edu.sg/wp/wp06_03.pdf
This paper presents an analytical framework that unpacks the idioms used in common accountability
reforms applied in Southeast Asian countries into four categories – rules, watchdogs, culture and reengineering
– and relates reform selection and implementation to country governance characteristics.
The framework is used to identify reform opportunities, constraints and likely trajectories in the diverse
Southeast Asian context.
Hughes C 2006. Cambodia. IDS bulletin 37(2): 67–78
This paper examines the extent to which Cambodia has ‘turned around’ with respect to economic
performance, conflict resolution and human development. Cambodia’s economic performance since
the UN-sponsored peace process of 1991–93 has superficially appeared creditable, but reflects the
combined effect of a peace dividend and contingent factors, salient in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Unresolved structural issues emerging from the legacies of the Cambodian war represent a longerterm
constraint on economic performance and human development. A legacy that continues to pose
particular problems is the power of the military which has become entrenched as a key player within the
government structure, in the interests of a peace conceptualised as public order. The paper documents
how this strategy has posed continuing problems for the structural reform of key aspects of governance
such as the judicial sector and the promotion of an anti-corruption regime.