How Does Technology Shape Corruption?

Abstract

Does computerization reduce corruption? The field of ICT4D (Information and Communication Technology for Development) has grappled with this issue with no clear direction emerging. To address this question, our study focuses on the technological disruption brought about by a decade long computerization of the paper records, data and work procedures of a national land registration agency in a Mediterranean country. Based on a five-year ethnographic field study involving 127 interviews, we identify and describe the working of elusive actions within the three major work practices in the Registry. By focusing on the struggles that surrounded the introduction of digitization, we offer a highly contextualized analysis of how employees involved in corruption reacted to the limits on previous elusive actions and the visibility that the system imposed. From our analysis, we find that corrupt actions are deeply embedded in legitimate and core work processes but involve specific actions such as: document alteration, delaying and accelerating process, and subverting organizational controls. Institutionally, these corrupt activities are protected by claims of professional autonomy, active maintenance of process opacity, and the implicit acquiescence to the operation of camouflaged networks.