Corruption

WHO Definition of Corruption [1]

Corruption is the abuse of entrusted power for private gain. [2] The concept of corruption in relation to global health has been defined as: “misappropriation of authority, resources, trust or power for private or institutional gain that has adverse effects on regional, local or international health systems and/or that negatively impacts individual patient and/or population health outcomes.” [3]

Other Definitions of Corruption

UN Office on Drugs and Crime [4]

“While there is no single, clinical “one-line” definition of corruption, there are common factors in the various conduct and consequences which bring each of the specific models within the general concept of “corruption”. Perhaps most commonly cited of these is the idea that some form of conflict of interest is either created or exploited by corruption: [5]…Another common concept, the idea that corruption is the abuse of public power for private gain (previous section), can also be seen as a conflict between the obligation to exercise a public power in the public interest and the self-interest of an individual to use or exploit the power for private gain.”

World Bank [6,7]

Corruption is defined as public officials acting in their private interest in a way that contravenes the public interest.

Transparency International [2]

We define corruption as the abuse of entrusted power for private gain.

Corruption can take many forms, and can include behaviours like:

• public servants demanding or taking money or favours in exchange for services,
• politicians misusing public money or granting public jobs or contracts to their sponsors, friends and families,
• corporations bribing officials to get lucrative deals

Note: TI developed an anti-corruption glossary illustrating corrupt behaviors

Center for Global Development [8]

Corruption can be defined as use of public office for private gains or “the sale by government officials of government property for personal gain” (Shleifer and Vishny, 1993). With either definition good government hinges on the incentives for and accountability of public servants."

Brookings [9]

Official corruption is the abuse of public office in exchange for private benefits. The exact boundary of what is considered “corruption” may depend on culture.

National Bureau of Economic Research [10]

We define corruption as the breaking of a rule by a bureaucrat (or an elected official) for private gain. This definition includes the most obvious type of corruption—a bureaucrat taking an overt monetary bribe to bend a rule, thereby providing a service to someone that he was not supposed to. However, it would also encompass more nuanced forms of bureaucratic corruption. For example, it would include nepotism, such as if a bureaucrat provided a government contract to a firm owned by her nephew rather than to a firm that ought to win a competitive, open procurement process. This definition would also cover the case of a bureaucrat who “steals time”: she may, for example, not show up to work, but still collect her paycheck.We define corruption as the breaking of a rule by a bureaucrat (or an elected official) for private gain. This definition includes the most obvious type of corruption—a bureaucrat taking an overt monetary bribe to bend a rule, thereby providing a service to someone that he was not supposed to. However, it would also encompass more nuanced forms of bureaucratic corruption. For example, it would include nepotism, such as if a bureaucrat provided a government contract to a firm owned by her nephew rather than to a firm that ought to win a competitive, open procurement process. This definition would also cover the case of a bureaucrat who “steals time”: she may, for example, not show up to work, but still collect her paycheck. [11]

[1] Mackey TK, Vian T, Kohler J. The sustainable development goals as a framework to combat health-sector corruption. Bulletin of the World Health Organization. 2018 Sep 1;96(9):634.

[2] How do you define corruption? [internet]. Berlin: Transparency International; 2018. https://www.transparency.org/what-is-corruption#define

[3] Mackey TK, Liang BA. Combating health-care corruption and fraud with improved global health governance. BMC Int Health Hum Rights. 2012 10 22;12(1):23. http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1472-698X-12-23 pmid: 23088820

[4] UN Office on Drugs and Crime. UN Guide for Anti-Corruption Policies. November 2003.

[5] Naim, M., “The Corruption Eruption”, 1995 II Brown Journal of World Affairs, pp.245-61 at 248, reprinted in Williams, R., ed., Explaining Corruption, vol. 1 of The Politics of Corruption, Elgar Reference Collection, UK, 2000, pp. 264-78 at 266.

[6] Wouters J, Ninio A, Doherty T, Cisse' H, editors. 2012. The World Bank Legal Review Volume 6 Improving Delivery in Development: The Role of Voice, Social Contract, and Accountability. Washington, D.C.: The World Bank.

[7] Yasutomo M. 2015. Making Delivery a Priority: A Philosophical Perspective on Corruption and a Strategy for Remedy. The World Bank Legal Review Volume 6 Improving Delivery in Development: The Role of Voice, Socila Contract and Accountability. Washington, D.C.: The World Bank.

[8] CGD. Governance and Corruption in Public Health Care Systems. https://www.cgdev.org/sites/default/files/5967_file_WP_78.pdf

[9]https://www.brookings.edu/research/corruption-and-globalization/

[10] https://www.nber.org/search?page=1&perPage=50&q=corruption

[11] Banerjee A, Mullainathan S, Hanna R. Corruption. National Bureau of Economic Research; 2012 Apr 5. p6