For a New Generation of Objective Indicators in Governance and Corruption Studies

While the last twenty years have seen the development of global rankings for corruption, allowing comparison between countries and shaming of corrupt governments, the measurements remain based largely on the perceptions of experts, and so lack both specificity and transparency. New research, based on a comprehensive theory of governance defined as the set of formal and informal institutions determining “who gets what” in a given context, allows for more specific and objective, albeit indirect, measurement of control of corruption. To uncover the institutional setting which empowers public integrity, such research tests numerous anti-corruption tools and good governance strategies in a comparative framework. The end result is an evidence-based national framework for control of corruption and a clear measure able to indicate both current status and change in corruption control from year to year or as a result of policy intervention.