New OECD Report on International Drivers of Corruption

This report introduces an analytical tool intended to help users understand how factors in the global economy and international relations, affect governance and corruption at the country level. It provides a means for identifying those factors that matter most for domestic governance, as well as opportunities for international actors to work more effectively to improve governance in specific country contexts.

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SUMMARY

While corruption and other governance problems result primarily from processes generated within the domestic political economy, there are also major international factors that interact with domestic processes, referred to in this report as “international drivers of corruption”. Examples include the effects of natural resource rents arising from international trade of high-value commodities, the ability to conceal and move financial assets abroad, and pressures created by foreign investment. Less tangible but no less significant effects arise from international networks of expertise and ideas, and international reputational pressures.

Recent years have seen growing recognition of the importance of international drivers. Many international instruments and initiatives have been established to regulate their effects, with the aim of improving governance and corruption outcomes. These include the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), the EU Action Plan Forest Law Enforcement Governance and Trade (FLEGT); the recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing; the OECD Convention on Combating Bribery; the Global Forum dealing with transparency and exchange of information for tax purposes; the United Nations Convention against Corruption, and many others. Along with this increased international engagement, there is a need for a better understanding of the processes by which international drivers affect governance and corruption in different country contexts, and more strategic thinking on how international instruments can counter those processes.

This report – developed by GOVNET, the OECD DAC Network on Governance – aims to meet this need. It introduces an analytical tool intended to help users understand how factors in the global economy and international relations affect governance and corruption at the country level. It provides a means for identifying those factors that matter most for domestic governance, as well as opportunities for international actors to work more effectively to improve governance in specific country contexts.