Corruption Research Articles

Public Sector Audit Reforms and Financial Management

Developing economies across the world face high public corruption and weak financial management, and the role of sound audit practices in shaping the narratives is still at the exploring stage in most countries in sub-Saharan Africa. This research explores the nexus between public audit reforms and public sector financial management using survey research design and Nigeria as a case study. Participants in the study were drawn from The Office of the Auditor General of the Federation (OAuGF) Headquarter in Abuja. Agency theory anchored this study and simple descriptive analytics was used in testing the seven hypotheses. The research established that: the recent audit reforms carried out in Nigeria are considered necessary for better public sector financial management; Nigeria’s audit system has a strong connection with public sector financial management; there is a need for the establishment of Federal Audit Service Commission (FASC) in Nigeria; the recent audit reforms will block treasury loot and leakages in Nigerian public funds management; Nigeria needs effective audit laws to wholesomely fight corruption through recent audit reforms; and the recent Nigerian audit reforms embrace integrity, transparency and accountability in the management of public funds. The study makes the following recommendations: there is a need for audit staff orientation and professional development in order to promote their overall productivity and efficiency; there is a need for the establishment of Federal Audit Service Commission (FASC) in order to promote the independence of Nigerian Audit system from executive interferences; Nigeria audit laws should be strengthened to curtail fund leakages, wastages of public property, and promotion of value-for-money expenditures; and the recent audit reforms carried out by the government of Nigeria should be sustained and given all necessary supports in order to achieve the desired results.

Brushstrokes of Change: Hieronymous Bosch and Rachel Gadsden's Evolving Portrayals of Disability

Historically, there has been a notable lack of representation of disability in western art history. Where disabilities are displayed, the artists’ intentions were often to convey moral corruption, religious infidelity, and the faults of society. Other times, the representations functioned scientifically as medical records. In fact, one of the most anatomically accurate representations of physical disability is credited to the early modern artist Hieronymous Bosch, who was known for his unfiltered commentary on the flaws of human society. Contrary to his typical surreal, vibrant, and sarcastic style, Cripples and Beggars (after 1570) (Fig. 1), a naturalistic and observational piece, offers a rare lens into how disability was portrayed during the early modern period. In contrast, Rachel Gadsden, a contemporary, disabled artist, foregrounds her identity as a disabled artist in her work Ubuntu (2012) (Fig. 2) and utilizes an expressive, abstract style to convey the fluidity of the disabled human form. Cripples and Beggars and Ubuntu, separated by centuries, provide a captivating shared subject for comparative analysis that transcends temporal boundaries. Cripples and Beggars provides an early explicit and moralizing depiction of physical disability as an isolating scourge while Rachel Gadsden focuses on abstract, yet recognizable human bodies in optimistic motion and community. Analysis of the varying style, medium, and intention reveals the evolved reception and, thus, depiction of disability. The evolution of the reception and depiction of disability from Hieronymous Bosch's Cripples and Beggars to Rachel Gadsden's "Ubuntu" signifies a shift from viewing disability as a symbol of moral corruption and societal decay to an expression of identity, resilience, and community.

The Role of Artificial Intelligence in Literary Analysis: A Computational Approach to Understand Literary Styles

This research explores the evolving landscape of literary analysis through the integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and traditional human scholarship. The primary objective is to assess the extent to which AI can enhance the analysis of literary texts by examining its performance in uncovering thematic and stylistic elements within William Shakespeare's "Hamlet." This study employs a mixedmethods research approach, combining qualitative and quantitative techniques to provide a comprehensive evaluation. In the digital age, AI has emerged as a promising tool for text analysis, offering efficiency and scalability. However, it raises fundamental questions about its ability to grasp the profound nuances, cultural contexts, and thematic richness inherent in literary works. Through meticulous comparative and thematic analyses, this research investigates the strengths and limitations of AI in literary analysis, juxtaposing its findings with traditional human interpretations. The results of our study reveal that AI excels in identifying patterns, themes, and stylistic markers within "Hamlet." It effectively recognizes key themes such as revenge, madness, and moral corruption. However, AI's analysis often lacks the depth and contextual understanding present in traditional critiques, particularly in interpreting abstract motifs and cultural references. Our findings underscore the complementary nature of AI and human scholarship in literary analysis. While AI offers quantitative efficiency and objectivity, human interpretation provides the depth, cultural insights, and emotional resonance necessary for a comprehensive understanding of literary works. We argue for a harmonious future where AI augments human expertise, leading to more profound insights and a richer literary scholarship. This research not only contributes to the field of literary analysis but also offers a broader perspective on the evolving relationship between technology and human creativity. As AI technologies advance, the collaborative synergy between AI's quantitative efficiency and human interpretation's qualitative depth promises to reshape the landscape of literary studies, enriching our understanding of literature across diverse genres, time periods, and cultural contexts.

Corruption, Funding Structure and Bank Lending of Dual Banking System

The main objective of this paper is to examine the interaction effect of political turmoil on the relationship between funding structure and bank lending behaviour of Islamic (IBs) and Conventional banks (CBs). Political turmoil is measured by corruption (CPI) and election year (ELY) while the funding structure is measured by Total Customer Deposits (TCD) and Total Bank Deposits (TBD). We conducted a panel analysis of Islamic and conventional banks to ascertain whether the funding structure of Islamic banks can sustain financing supply and whether its growth is higher than conventional bank lending growth in times of political turmoil. Using the matched-pair technique, this study utilizes a panel sample of 58 Islamic banks and 58 conventional banks from 18 dual-banking countries from 2006 to 2017. The generalised Method of Moments (GMM) is used to deal with the endogeneity and heterogeneity issues. We observed that corruption and elections affect the amount of lending/financing given to IBs and CBs. The study found that TCD hinders the growth of credit supply for both IBs and CBs during elections. Nevertheless, TBD did not have any influence on bank lending. The study on interaction reveals that political turmoil has affected the relationship between funding structure and bank lending for Islamic and conventional banks. These findings contribute to supporting the Islamic banking system's involvement in financial and economic stability. This suggests that corruption is influencing the funding structure within the banking system, which in turn affects the availability of credit from banks. Future research could investigate whether the governance by the bank’s management leads to credit supply efficiency.

THE IMPACT OF GOVERNMENT BUDGETING ON CORRUPTION IN PUBLIC FINANCE: A CROSS-COUNTRY ANALYSIS

THE IMPACT OF GOVERNMENT BUDGETING ON CORRUPTION IN PUBLIC FINANCE: A CROSS-COUNTRY ANALYSIS

Semangat Anti Korupsi dalam Moderasi Beragama (Studi Komparatif Agama Islam dan Kristen)

Corruption is a deviant act in social life, culture, especially in religion. The act is seen as a misuse and abuse of power or position and betrayal of trust. The phenomenon of corruption has become ingrained in a country, and Indonesia is no exception. Therefore, what is the concept of corruption according to Islam and Christianity?. With aliteratur study and comparative analysis, this research found: Islam views corruption as 1). Akhdzul amwal bil bathil, which is eating other people’s wealth unlawfuly, 2). Al-gulul, which is betrayal or misappropriation, 3). Al-Suhtu, which is the proceeds of an unlawful act, 4). Risywah, or bribery. Christianity views corruption as theft, an act of moral corruption, self-enrichment, and abuse of authority. As for addressing this, Islam gives the sancition of cutting hands to corruptors, while Christianity sanctions corruption with compensation twice as much as what stolen or corrupted.

Do the sector-orientation and the origin of foreign direct investment explain types of corruption in Sub-Saharan Africa?

This paper focuses on analysing the effects of sector orientation and the origin of FDI on the types of corruption. The GMM technique and the IV-2SLS on a panel of Sub-Saharan African countries were used. Globally, we find that FDI increases political corruption in SSA. Moreover, the study shows that sector orientation and the origin of FDI have significant effects on each type of corruption. Primary sector FDI enhances public sector corruption and reduces judicial corruption. Secondary sector FDI increases executive, public, and judicial corruption. In the tertiary sector, executive and public corruption are enhanced while judiciary corruption is reduced. Regarding the origin, FDI from France increases public sector corruption whereas FDI from China and the USA reduces it. Executive corruption is reduced by FDI, regardless of its origin. FDI from France and the USA discourages judiciary corruption while FDI from China increases it. FDI from China reduces legislative corruption, while FDI from the USA tends to increase it. Furthermore, the analysis of the transmission channels shows education and development levels as important channels through which FDI could reduce corruption in SSA. Relevant policy implications derived from this study include the necessity for policy-makers to combat all types of corruption and mostly public corruption.

Digitalization and foreign direct investment performance: The moderating role of corruption and judicial independence

The aim of this paper is to investigate the relationship between digitalization and foreign direct investment (FDI) and test whether corruption (COR) and judicial independence (JUD) moderate this relationship. The sample contains 114 countries during 2016. The author obtains FDI data from the World Development Indicator (WDI) database, which was published by the World Bank in 2016. The World Bank’s digital adoption index (DAI) for 2016 was used to collect digitalization proxies. Finally, the remaining variables are gathered from the Global Competitiveness Report for the same year. Results show a positive and significant association between digitalization and foreign direct investment. This positive association remains stable and more pronounced and significant in countries with low levels of corruption, while it becomes weak and non-significant in countries with high levels of corruption. When the moderating effect of judicial independence is tested on the association between digitalization and foreign direct investment, the positive association between the two variables remains positive but more pronounced and significant in countries with high judicial independence systems, while it becomes low pronounced and non-significant in countries with low judicial independence systems. The findings emphasize the importance of decreasing corruption and strengthening judicial independence in order to maintain the positive relationship between digitization and FDI. Therefore, investors prefer stable environments with transparent legal systems, making anti-corruption policies and independent judiciaries critical in attracting and retaining FDI. These initiatives promote trust, foster a favorable business climate, and ensure that digitalization contributes to long-term economic progress.

The Tragedy of Humanity: Christopher Marlowe’s The Jew of Malta Revisited

Christopher Marlowe’s The Jew of Malta is a significant example of the transition from Morality Plays to a period of more developed and mature drama in the Elizabethan period. The themes that Marlowe handles and the protagonist he presents in the play emerge as aspects of a distinctive approach to dramatic representation and the concept of drama of that time. The play is set against the background of the struggle for economic, political, and military dominance between the Catholic Spain and Moslem Ottoman Empires and the Catholic administration and Jewish mercantile class in Malta. Religious conflicts and bigotry, intrigues, betrayals, and revenge plans committed by almost all characters representing different religious communities, ethnic prejudices that affect not only individuals but also the whole society, greed, and moral corruption emerge as the basic themes. Although the full title of the play was Famous Tragedy of the Rich Jew of Malta, the play could not gain the status of a tragedy in the Aristotelian or Elizabethan sense of the word for many critics due to its dominant farcical characteristics. For a modern reader, however, The Jew of Malta can be considered as a satirical tragedy, the tragedy not of the protagonist Barabas, but of humanity that craves material benefits and political power, and for the sake of achieving these, commits all kinds of villanies including exploitation, theft, and murder, and as a result, socially experiences the fall of the tragic hero.

How corruption affects entrepreneurial exit: Micro-evidence from Chinese entrepreneurs

The relationship between public corruption and entrepreneurship has gained increasing attention among researchers, yet we know little about how corruption affects entrepreneurial exit, especially at the micro level. Drawing on institutional theory and conservation of resources (COR) theory, we propose a moderated-mediation model that explores mechanisms and conditions through which corruption influences entrepreneurial exit. We conducted a longitudinal survey and a scenario-based experiment. Our empirical results demonstrate that corruption has a positive effect on entrepreneurial exit intention. Consistent with our hypothesis, this relationship is mediated by entrepreneurial stress. The moderated path analysis further indicates that political skills weaken the effect of corruption on entrepreneurial stress and entrepreneurial exit intention. Our findings extend the scope of public management research and provide some practical suggestions for government and entrepreneurs.

How Do Online Conflict Disclosures Support Enforcement? Evidence from Personal Financial Disclosures and Public Corruption

ABSTRACT Public corruption is a concern for democracies around the world. In the U.S., states have responded to this issue by publishing personal financial disclosures (PFDs) for public officials online. PFDs are a conflict-of-interest disclosure designed to relieve agency conflicts between private citizens and government officials by documenting overlaps between officials’ financial interests and public responsibilities. This paper explores whether and how online PFD supports anticorruption enforcement. I present a stylized model illustrating how online PFD leads investigators to increase case referral volume and quality. Empirically, I find that online PFD for local officials is associated with increased referral rates and greater likelihoods of prosecution conditional on referral. I conduct 126 field interviews of federal prosecutors, journalists, and ethics commissions to understand the mechanisms behind these results. I conclude that online PFD supports the enforcement of local corruption by reducing disclosure acquisition costs for enforcement agents.

Capital structure and public corruption among non-financial firms in the MENA region: The impact of the Arab spring

This study investigated the determinants of financing decisions of firms from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, particularly the effect of public corruption on financing decisions and the effect of disorder following the Arab Spring on public corruption-financing structure relationship. The study encompasses a total of 800 business entities from 14 different countries, spanning the time frame of 2005–2018. Data is analyzed through the application of static fixed effects and dynamic GMM-System models. Results indicate that large, tangible companies prefer debt, whereas profitable companies with more room for growth choose equity. Less corruption is associated with increased corporate debt. The use of debt decreased because of the Arab Spring, and corruption's effect on leverage became weaker. The speed of adjustment to the target leverage is comparatively slow for book leverage, while it is significantly greater for market leverage. These outcomes are consistent with the pecking order behavior resulted from increasing information asymmetry, but the tradeoff theory has some support as well. The implications of this study entail the need for enhancing investor protection, strengthening control measures, increasing transparency, and fostering the overall growth of the financial system to facilitate enterprises' use of debt financing, particularly in the post-Arab Spring era. This paper provides fresh empirical evidence demonstrating the effect of the Arab Spring on capital structure and on the relationship between country corruption and capital structure in the MENA region. The paper also expands the body of research on capital structure and corruption across countries by providing empirical findings from a region that has been relatively overlooked in previous scholarly works.

Brushstrokes of Change: Hieronymus Bosch and Rachel Gadsden's Evolving Portrayals of Disability

There has been a notable lack of representation of disability in Western art history. Where disabilities are displayed, the artists’ intentions were often to convey moral corruption, religious infidelity, and the faults of society. Other times, the representations functioned scientifically as medical records. In fact, one of the most anatomically accurate representations of physical disability is credited to the early modern artist Hieronymous Bosch, who was known for his unfiltered commentary on the flaws of human society. Contrary to his typical surreal, vibrant, and sarcastic style, Cripples and Beggars (after 1570), a naturalistic and observational piece, offers a rare lens into how disability was portrayed during the early modern period.1 In contrast, Rachel Gadsden—a contemporary, disabled artist—foregrounds her identity as a disabled artist in her work Ubuntu (2012) and utilizes an expressive, abstract style to convey the fluidity of the disabled human form. Cripples and Beggars and Ubuntu, separated by centuries, provide a captivating shared subject for comparative analysis that transcends temporal boundaries. Cripples and Beggars provides an early explicit and moralizing depiction of physical disability as an isolating scourge while Rachel Gadsden focuses on abstract, yet recognizable human bodies in optimistic motion and community. Analysis of the varying style, medium, and intention reveals the evolved reception and, thus, depiction of disability. This transformation, from Hieronymous Bosch's Cripples and Beggars to Rachel Gadsden's Ubuntu, signifies a shift from viewing disability as a symbol of moral corruption and societal decay to an expression of identity, resilience, and community.

An Exploratory Study on the Impact of Corruption Factors on the Likelihood of Public Corruption Occurring : Focusing on the Moderating Effect of the Effectiveness of Anti-Corruption Policy Tools

An Exploratory Study on the Impact of Corruption Factors on the Likelihood of Public Corruption Occurring : Focusing on the Moderating Effect of the Effectiveness of Anti-Corruption Policy Tools

Deny Sanctioned Officials Access to Government: The Best Strategy for Minimizing Public Corruption Until Appropriate Legislation is Enacted by the Liberian Government

Deny Sanctioned Officials Access to Government: The Best Strategy for Minimizing Public Corruption Until Appropriate Legislation is Enacted by the Liberian Government

Local public corruption and corporate debt concentration: evidence from US firms

Using debt structure data from a large sample of US non-financial companies during the period 2002–2016 combined with the US Department of Justice (DOJ) data on local public corruption, we examine the effect of public corruption on the degree of debt concentration in a firm’s debt structure. The results imply that firms in corrupt areas tend to use several debt types simultaneously, decreasing in that way debt concentration. These findings remain robust to tests that control for endogeneity. In further analysis, we show that these results are stronger for more informationally transparent firms, i.e. investment grade rated and publicly listed firms, that have easier access to capital debt markets. Lastly, in terms of debt choices, we find that firms in corrupt areas issue more commercial paper, senior bonds and capital leases, while they borrow less from banks. The study provides useful policy implications for combating corruption, as informationally opaque firms face increased barriers to debt financing.

Mark Twain’s Earworm

ABSTRACT Mark Twain’s obsession with and popularization of Isaac Bromley’s original horsecar jingle not only inspired an entire school of horsecar poems but also parodies of them that satirized political campaigns, public corruption, organized labor, vices such as gambling and alcoholism, the work of newspaper editors as well as admonitions to respect the law. During the Great War, parodies of the jingle commended the women knitting brigades on the home front. The parodies also led to the introduction of jingles in advertising. The original rhyme has survived in the public imagination for generations.

Cultural wars and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) rights in Southeast Asia: ‘Asian values’, human rights, and the ‘homosexual turn’

Some have argued that we are seeing a ‘homosexual turn’ in Southeast Asia. Decriminalization of sodomy, legal recognition of same-sex marriage, and discussions regarding trans rights have all taken place in the last decade. However, a backlash has emerged as well. Governmental censure of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender issues has escalated, with politicians espousing anti-lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender rhetoric and warning against importing ‘cultural wars’ from the West into Asia. The lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender rights debate is becoming the new cultural battleground in Asia, with ‘Asian’ and ‘family’ centered values being pitted against ‘Western hegemony’ and ‘moral corruption’. As lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender activists advocate for more recognition, the ‘traditional’ heteronormative family is further institutionalized and valorized. This article aims to interrogate the ‘cultural wars’ in Asia as reflected in the tension between burgeoning lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender activism and the enduring privilege of heteronormative families. It will explore this cultural clash through the following three dimensions: (1) rights framing, (2) competition over resources, and (3) political backlash. Ultimately, though, the article argues that as opposed to seeing this tension as a ‘cultural war’, instead we should see this conflict as developmental growing pains, as the region continues to evolve, and nation-states begin to grapple with the burgeoning rights and an irrepressible recognition of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender identities that had been buried under layers of ideologies, from political to moral.

Lenders’ culture and the pricing of public corruption in corporate loans: evidence from the United States

We investigate how the cultural heritage of bank CEOs shapes the relationship between public corruption and the cost of syndicated loans in the US market. We show that banks led by CEOs that trace their origin in high uncertainty avoidance societies penalize less sharply in loan pricing the presence of high local public corruption in the state of the borrowing firms. We find some similar evidence for banks led by CEOs that trace their origin to more individualistic societies. These findings are consistent with the view that certain cultural traits prompt tolerance for the risks of corruption and show that the pricing of institutional quality in corporate loans is conditional on banks led by CEOs with such traits.

Financial Wealth, Value and Moral Corruption in Seneca's Economic Thinking

This article scrutinises Seneca’s moral engagement with complex financial accounting as a speculative form of wealth and moneymaking that challenged social norms and subverted systems of value. The contribution discusses Seneca’s construction of a form of greed and corruption that is often anticipated by psychological biases, such as loss aversion and self-deception. This degenerating process is exemplified by the misuse of financial ledgers, and specifically of the kalendarium, an account book associated with moneylending that Seneca describes as a suspect instrument of avarice that provoked the ruin of fortunes.