Background and Overview:

Corruption is one of the leading reasons for the ongoing political and economic failures of many developing countries. Corruption impedes the development of markets, drives away investment, increases the costs of doing business, and undermines the rule of law. The need for an increased emphasis on fighting corruption is more evident today than ever before, as global corruption flows, according to World Bank estimates, have now surpassed $1 trillion annually.

The attitudes toward corruption are changing. The business community is no longer blaming corruption - and placing the burden of combating it - solely on government officials. The emerging consensus is that anti-corruption efforts should combine initiatives from the business community, the public sector, and civil society. More importantly, combating corruption requires more than grandiose statements and the removal of corrupt public officials. It requires concrete action to change the incentive systems that sustain bribery and extortion.

CIPE’s anti-corruption work targets both the supply and demand sides of corruption - those who demand bribes in exchange for services and those who supply bribes and demand preferential treatment. On the supply side, CIPE and its partner organizations address private sector participation in corruption by working to create an environment where corrupt activities become unsustainable. This can be achieved in large part by building and improving corporate governance mechanisms.

On the demand side, CIPE’s programs seek to reform ambiguous legal systems, implement standards for government agencies, make a link between cultural norms and rule of law, and change laws to mitigate government employees’ opportunities to exert discretionary (and unsupervised) authority throughout various levels of government.

Programs and Resources:

• CIPE's Anti-corruption Toolkit: "Combating Corruption: A Private Sector Approach"
• Combating Business Participation in Corruption in Mozambique (a discussion paper produced by the Sofala Commercial and Industrial Association)
• Economic Reform Feature Service Magazine: Special Focus on Anti-Corruption Reform business relations.

• Russia: Business without Corruption: An Action Guide

• Combating Corruption: Private Sector Perspectives and Solutions (in Armenian)

• Evaluation of CIPE Anti-Corruption Programs 1995-2003

• Combating Corruption: A Policy Toolkit
  Some simple and effective measures policymakers can implement now to fight corruption.

• Economic Reform Today Number 2 1998: Business Views on Combating Corruption

• CIPE's Anti-Corruption Programs

From CIPE Partners

• Business and Corruption: How To Combat Business Participation in Corruption (English | Russian). A report by the Russian non-governmental foundation "Information Science for Democracy" (INDEM Foundation) that deals with the problem of corruption in the government-small

• Corruption at the Customs
  a new book by the Center for Liberal and Democratic Studies (CLDS) in Serbia

• Coalition 2000: A Model Example of Public-Private Partnership to Combat Corruption (Bulgaria)
  Coalition 2000 is an internationally recognized, innovative approach to fighting corruption. It is an outgrowth of the Center for the Study of Democracy's plan to combat corruption, and involves a number of Bulgarian non-governmental organizations (NGOs) working in cooperation with government institutions and individuals.

• Corruption in Serbia

Speeches and Presentations

• Corruption in the Serbian Judiciary
  Presentation by Boris Begovic
  Center for Liberal-Democratic Studies
  Presented May 5, 2004 at the Center for International Private Enterprise

• The Role of the Private Sector: Creating Partnerships to Prevent Corruption
  Remarks by John Zemko
  Communications Director, CIPE
  Presented September 22, 2000 at the Anticorruption Summit

• Anti-Corruption Initiatives from a Business View Point
  Speech given by John D. Sullivan,
  Executive Director, CIPE
  Speech given at Sixth Annual Harvard International Development Conference

• Fighting Corruption in Developing Countries and Emerging Economies: The Role of the Private Sector
  The negative impact of corruption on the private sector have in many countries forced what would be legitimate business into the informal economy, leaving a smaller business sector to shoulder the tax burden. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) - Development Centre, the Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) held a conference to define the private sectors' role in reducing corruption and creating a healthy business environment. The conference was held in Washington, DC February 22-23 and was attended by over 200 public and private sector leaders.