LIST OF PANELS

The United Nations Secretary General (Antonio Guterres) has recently defined corruption as “criminal, immoral and a betrayal of public trust. Even more damaging in time of crisis”.

Countries across the world have been recently experiencing different types of crises and related emergencies. From natural disasters due to climate change to the Covid-19 pandemic, geo-political conflicts, and economic crises.

Emergencies create new “opportunities for corruption to thrive and grow as actions taken to quickly address the needs presented by the crisis may lead to sacrifices in transparency and accountability” (UNODC 2020). The acceleration of decision-making and the heightened uncertainty linked to the emergency lead many public and private institutions to forego the usual precautions and procedures. In addition, the large number of recovery efforts and economic aids injected into these contexts foster additional corruption opportunities. Systemic shocks can also exacerbate preexisting integrity challenges, affect effective governance, and trust in government institutions (OECD, 2021). In these contexts, it is often problematic to develop public measures against corruption that can keep pace with corruption opportunities in times of crisis.

Two main mechanisms affect public sector corruption risks during emergencies:

1.       An increase in opportunities for extracting rents (e.g., recovery funds, economic aids, etc.)

2.       A decrease in control mechanisms (e.g., transparency and accountability systems).

Effective anti-corruption efforts during emergencies need to address these two specific mechanisms. They must go “hand-in-hand with economic response and recovery efforts to ensure the appropriate allocation and distribution of funds.” (UNODC, 2020).

The anti-corruption academic community, as well as international organizations, have been actively considering the consequence of natural disasters, the Covid-19 pandemic, conflict situations, and economic crises in terms of corruption risks (Divjak 2015; Estrada 2020; Gallego et al 2020; OECD 2021; Terziev et al. 2020; United Nations 2021; UNODC 2020; Wernick 2020). However, most of these evaluations are based on past experiences (e.g., management of corruption during Ebola), simulation analyses or qualitative studies, or borrow practical solutions from the management of other problems (e.g., frauds). Practical comparative evaluations of corruption risks based on the most recent emergencies is still underdeveloped.

This panel aims to address this research problem and study public sector corruption risk during emergencies (e.g., pandemics, natural disasters, geo-political conflicts, economic crises). In particular, it aims to answer the following research questions:

-          What are the main types of public sector corruption arising during emergencies?

-          What sectors (e.g., public procurement, public service delivery) are more at risk of corruption during emergencies? 

-          What are the determinants/risk factors of public sector corruption during emergencies (e.g., specific institutional or management practices)?

-          What are the most effective anti-corruption policies to counter public sector corruption during emergencies?

In terms of scientific relevance, this panel will contribute to enrich research on three main issues in the field of corruption and anti-corruption studies:

1.       The conceptualization of corruption types with a focus on misbehaviors emerging during crises.

2.       The understanding of the theoretical background for explaining corrupt behaviors during emergencies (e.g., economic vs neo-institutional approaches).

3.       The methods used to measure corruption and assess anti-corruption policies.

This panel invites conceptual, empirical and methodological contributions answering the following research questions:

1.       What are the main types of public sector corruption arising during emergencies (e.g., pandemics, natural disasters, geo-political conflicts, economic crises)?

2.       What sectors (e.g., public procurement, public service delivery) are more at risk of corruption during emergencies? 

3.       What are the determinants/risk factors of public sector corruption during emergencies (e.g., specific institutional or management practices)?

4.       What is the impact of public sector corruption on crisis response and recovery, and on trust in governmental institutions?

5.       What are the most effective anti-corruption policies to counter public sector corruption during emergencies?

Papers can address these issues at both macro/regional and micro/local levels. Conceptual, empirical and methodological papers from different disciplines are welcomed. Case study analyses are also accepted.

Paper proposals should be no more than one page long. The research problem and questions should be specified, as well as the methods and data/information used to answer the research questions. The scientific relevance of the contribution should also be highlighted.

The panel entails standard presentations with speakers, a chair/discussant, and a final Q&A session.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Divjak, B. (2015). Ebola and corruption: Overcoming critical governance challenges in a crisis situation. U4 Anti-Corruption Resource Centre.

Estrada, R. and Arturo, M. (2020). Can COVID-19 Generate a Massive Corruption in Developing Countries and Least Developed Countries? (May 10, 2020). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3597367 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3597367

Gallego, J.A., Prem, M. and Vargas, J.F. (2020). Corruption in the Times of Pandemia (July 25, 2020). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3600572 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3600572

Guterres, A., United Nations (2021) Statement on corruption in the context of covid-19. Corruption is the ultimate betrayal of public trust. https://www.un.org/en/coronavirus/statement-corruption-context-covid-19

OECD (2021). Anticorruption and emergency situations. Background note https://www.unodc.org/documents/corruption/G20-Anti-Corruption-Resources/Thematic-Areas/Sectors/2021_Anti-corruption_and_emergency_situations_Background_note.pdf

Terziev, V.K., Petrov, G.M., Marinov, B.S. (2020). Increasing the risk of corruption activities during a Covid-19 pandemic. Іntеrnаtіоnаl Scіеntіfіc Jоurnаl “Іntеrnаukа” https://doi.org/10.25313/2520-2057-2020-12

United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) 2020, Goor Practices Compendium on Combating Corruption in the Response to COVID-19. G20 Saudi Arabia 2020 Riyadh Summit.

United Nations (2021). Corruption and COVID-19: CHALLENGES IN CRISIS RESPONSE AND RECOVERY.

Wernick, E.F. and Thomas, P.T. (2020). How COVID-19 is Affecting International Corruption and Financial Crime. Vinson&Elinks. https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=3a988f77-8930-4d94-826e-5c1ec85535d5